Grant Gross reports: An employee of the U.S. Department of State was sentenced Wednesday to 12 months of probation for illegally accessing more than 125 electronic passport application files, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Kevin M. Young, 42, of Temple Hills, Maryland, was also ordered by Judge Alan Kay, of the U.S. District Court…
House Approves P2P User Act
Roy Mark reports: The third time proved the charm for Rep. Mary Mack Bono (R-CA) as the U.S. House approved the Informed P2P User Act Dec. 8, mandating P2P (peer-to-peer) software vendors to provide a “clear and conspicuous” notice to consumers about the files being shared by the software and to obtain user consent for…
German Court Rules on Consent Verification Requirement for Email Marketing
Hunton & Williams LLP writes: On November 3, 2009, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (OLG Düsseldorf, Az. I-20 U 137/09) ruled on the duty to verify consent for email marketing with respect to purchased email addresses. According to the Court, a company that purchases email addresses for marketing purposes must verify customer consent itself…
House Passes Data Accountability Bill
Roy Mark reports: The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Dec. 8 requiring data brokers to establish procedures to verify the accuracy of information that identifies individuals in their databases and to allow consumers to access and request correction of incorrect information. The Data Accountability and Trust Act, approved on a voice vote, would also…