privacy

Why Video Game Companies Need Privacy Policies and Why Copy-Pasting Won’t Work

By / April 24, 2025

With games collecting vast amounts of user data—ranging from usernames and IP addresses to payment information and in-game behaviors—having a clear and compliant privacy policy isn’t just a good practice; it’s a legal requirement. However, simply copying and pasting another company’s privacy policy is a dangerous shortcut that can lead to serious legal consequences. Legal …

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No standing for speculative harm in data breach – Fourth Circuit

By / February 17, 2017

Beck v. McDonald. At a VA hospital, a laptop holding 7,400 patients personal information was secured to a medical device by only a strip of Velcro. Unsurprisingly, it was stolen. Two veterans sued the VA over the compromise of their personal information. The veterans sued for violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Administrative Procedures …

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Fourth Circuit reverses itself: no warrant needed for historical cell site data

By / June 1, 2016

US v. Graham. In an en banc opinion, the Fourth Circuit overturned the panel’s decision in this case: A majority of the panel held that, although the Government acted in good faith in doing so, it had violated Defendants’ Fourth Amendment rights when it obtained the CSLI without a warrant. . . . We now hold that the …

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Email monitoring of deployed troops not subject to Fourth Amendment – Fourth Circuit

By / February 1, 2016

Aikens v. Ingram. Aikens, a N.C. National Guard member, sued under 42 USC 1983, claiming that two officers had violated his Fourth Amendment rights by monitoring his emails. At the time, Aikens was deployed, using a Department of Defense computer. The defendants allegedly monitored his emails in order to find incriminating correspondence that they could …

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A victory for LexisNexis under the FCRA – Fourth Circuit

By / December 5, 2015

Berry v. LexisNexis Risk and Information. The Fourth Circuit has handed down an appellate win for Lexis and other major data collectors involved in class litigation and seeking to minimize their financial liability. Class action plaintiffs alleged that Lexis failed to follow the protections under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires certain protections for …

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Fourth Circuit affirms wiretap evidence (unpublished)

By / October 6, 2015

US v. Amir Faraz. Amir Ali Faraz was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin and 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, two counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin, four counts of use of a communication facility to facilitate narcotics trafficking, and interstate travel with intent to promote drug trafficking. He …

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Cases to Watch: October Term

By / October 1, 2015

Spokeo v. Robins, No. 13-1339 [Argument: November 2, 2015] Issue: Whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm, and who therefore could not otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court, by authorizing a private right of action based on a bare violation of a federal statute. The issue …

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