Can a communications provider be held liable when it reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) an image the provider believes to be child sexual abuse material based on signals provided by NCMEC? 

Last week, the Second Circuit, in Solomon v. Flipps Media, Inc., joined the Third and Ninth Circuits in holding that “personally identifiable information” (PII) under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) is limited to information that would enable an ordinary person, without specialized knowledge or tools, to identify a consumer’s video-viewing history. 

Going into the Friday, April 4, 2025, meeting, the CPPA seemed poised to move forward far-reaching privacy regulations on RAs, cybersecurity audits, and ADMT.

As we close out the first quarter of 2025, one thing is unmistakable: California’s regulatory efforts continue to center on data brokers. 

The Federal Trade Commission announced long-awaited amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule on January 16, 2025, marking the first changes to the COPPA Rule since 2013. The amendments are the output of a rule review process that began in 2019 and a notice of proposed rulemaking announced in December 2023.

In recent months, a wave of lawsuits has swept across the nation, targeting websites for allegedly violating state wiretapping laws through their use of tracking software.

After much anticipation, on November 8, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) Board voted to advance proposed regulations for insurance, cybersecurity audits, risk assessments, and automated decision-making technology (ADMT) to formal rulemaking.