Ossian Law P.C.

Google Argues Accidental Recording Doesn’t Violate State, Federal Laws

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Ossian Law IT Law Alert March 10, 2020
Google Argues Accidental Recording Doesn’t Violate Applicable Laws
 Last summer, a proposed class action was filed in a California federal court against Alphabet, Inc., the parent company of Google, alleging that the accidental recording of conversations by Google Assistant violates various state and federal privacy and wiretap laws. The voice activated device is intended only to record a conversation when a ‘hotword” such as “Hey Google” or “OK Google” is spoken. The plaintiffs allege that Google Assistant also recorded conversations after being accidentally activated.
 
Google recently filed a motion to dismiss each count of the lawsuit, arguing that the recording by the voice activated device was not intentional, as required by wiretap laws. Google also argued that accidental recording is not unexpected – “Plaintiffs knew that a function of the Assistant is to respond to voice-activated queries, so it is reasonable to expect that it may activate in error.” The court has yet to rule on Google’s motion.
 
Google’s brief in support of its motion to dismiss is available here.  
 Contact us at Ossian Law regarding any information technology law question.   

© 2020 Ossian Law P.C.UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS  “Legal Look @ New Tech:  AI, Autonomous Vehicles, Robotic Process Automa”  – Kathy Ossian will moderate the panel State Bar of Michigan Information Technology Law Section Thurs., April 2, 2020 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Western Michigan Cooley Law School 
Auburn Hills Michigan
 
More information available here. Have a suggestion for a future IT Law Alert or presentation topic? Let us know here.



Michigan Personal Privacy Protection Act Extends to Out State Residents

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Ossian Law IT Law Alert February 24, 2020
 
Michigan Personal Privacy Protection Act Extends to Out State Residents In 1988, Michigan enacted the Personal Privacy Protection Act (PPPA) to “preserve personal privacy with respect to the purchase, rental, or borrowing” of written materials, sound recordings, and video recordings. Enacted with the video rental industry in mind, the PPPA prohibits sellers of media from disclosing sale or rental “information . . . that indicates the identity of the customer.”
 
Gary Lin, a paid subscriber of a Crain magazine and a Virginia resident, filed a proposed class action against Crain Communications Inc. alleging that Crain sold “highly detailed customer lists” including sensitive information about its subscribers to data aggregators in violation of the PPPA. Crain moved to dismiss the complaint on the basis that the PPPA protects only Michigan residents and, therefore, Lin, as a Virginia resident, cannot seek relief under the PPPA.
 
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan denied Crain’s motion, holding that the PPPS does not impose a residency requirement for customers to have protections under the act.

 The Lin order is available here. Contact us at Ossian Law regarding any information technology law question.   

© 2020 Ossian Law P.C.
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U.S. Houses Passes “Hack Your State Department Act”

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In a 377-3 bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 238, the “Hack Your State Department Act.” If this bill becomes law, the U.S. State Department would have one year to establish a pilot “bug bounty program” under which qualified security researchers or “ethical hackers” would be temporarily authorized to identify and report vulnerabilities of State Department networks and systems in exchange for compensation. The State Department would first have to adopt guidelines for qualifications and other requirements for participating in the program.

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Is Your Web Host Adequately Protecting Your Organization?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued the report “Do Web Host Protect Their Small Business Customers With Secure Hosting And Anti-Phishing Technologies? This report is the result of a mid-2017 investigation by the FTC’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation into the security features offered by eleven web hosts that primarily target small businesses.More

FTC Considers “Informational Injury” for Data Breaches

Ossian Law IT Law Alert January 8, 2018

FTC Considers “Informational Injury” for Data Breaches

Victims of data breaches are often unable to find a remedy without sustaining actual monetary damages. That could change if the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pursues a path toward “informational injury,” which could impose a deemed harm to data breach subjects. In December 2017, the FTC held a workshop on informational injury to “examine more thoroughly the range of injuries that can occur from privacy and data security incidents,” according to Acting FTC Chair Ohlhausen.
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Ossian Law IT Law Alert December 5, 2017

Ossian Law IT Law Alert December 5, 2017

Exempting Cybersecurity Plans from FIOA

The Michigan House of Representatives recently approved a bill that would amend the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to prevent public disclosure of organization’s cybersecurity assessments, cybersecurity plans, cybersecurity incidents and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Protecting this type of information from public disclosure could help prevent cyberattacks on the organizations involved.More

Ossian Law P.C. News

Kathy Ossian, founder and CEO of Ferndale’s Ossian Law P.C. has been selected as a 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Information Technology Law in Detroit for the 24th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America publication. This title were given based on a peer-review survey of attorneys in Metro Detroit.
Along with practicing law, Ossian is a speaker, educator and editor of the PLI publication, “Social Media and the Law.” Ossian Law P.C. is an information technology law practice, based in Ferndale, Michigan.
 
Please let us know if you have any questions.
 
Alicia Linn
Communications Coordinator, Ossian Law P.C.
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