The Advertising Law Blog provides commentary and news on developing legal issues in advertising, promotional marketing, Internet, and privacy law. This blog is sponsored by the Advertising, Marketing & Promotions group at Olshan. The practice is geared to servicing the needs of the advertising, promotional marketing, and digital industries with a commitment to providing personal, efficient and effective legal service.
In the constantly changing and confusing world of consumer privacy laws, it is more important than ever for businesses to evaluate and reevaluate their collection and use of personal data. There is currently no comprehensive federal consumer privacy law, but as the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, comprehensive state consumer privacy laws have gone into effect in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and Utah. Three more states – Texas, Oregon and Montana – have enacted privacy laws that go into effect in 2024, and six states – Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and Indiana – have enacted privacy laws going into effect in 2025 and 2026. Seventeen additional states have active privacy law bills and are likely to pass their own privacy laws within the years to come. What this means is that consumer privacy laws are here to stay, and companies who conduct business in the United States cannot ignore their obligations under these laws. Any business that collects personal data from residents of these states may need to comply with these laws, regardless of where that business is located.
Random sample method used to calculate damages
In the case of Federal Trade Commission v. Jonathan Braun, decided on February 6, 2024 in the Southern District of New York after a jury trial, a federal court entered a judgment requiring merchant cash advance company owner Jonathan Braun to pay $20.3 million in monetary relief and civil penalties for misleading small businesses and unlawfully seizing their assets. Braun was found guilty of deceiving business owners about how much money he would advance to them and how much they would have to pay back.