On January 21, the CFPB issued a Small Entity Compliance Guide summarizing the October 2020 Debt Collection Rule. The Debt Collection Rule amends Regulation F, 12 CFR Part 1006 and becomes effective on November 30, 2021. The Debt Collection Rule governs the activities of debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
The
Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of Washington, has released his 2021 legislative agenda. The requested legislation includes a bill that would self-impose notice requirements to Washington tribes before initiating a project or program that would implicate tribal rights. The legislation “requires that the Attorney General obtain free, prior, and informed consent before initiating programs or
On January 5, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced the creation of a new Office of Civil Rights, which will expand and replace the existing Division of Human Rights within the office of the attorney general. The new division is a prime example of state regulators’ expanded scrutiny of workplace activities occurring nationwide,
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release announcing it is holding an Identity Theft Awareness Week between February 1-5, 2021. The week will be comprised of a series of events providing consumers with helpful information to reduce their risk of identity theft and discussing concrete steps consumers can take to recover if identity
Last week, Judge Sue Myerscough declined to certify a class of employees whose personal information was disclosed when Driveline Retail Merchandising fell prey to a phishing scam. While nearly 16,000 employees were allegedly affected, “issues of causation and injury” were insufficiently common to satisfy the requirements for class certification.
The factual background will resonate with
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson recently announced priorities for his 2021 legislative agenda. These priorities include public safety and criminal justice reform, tribal treaty rights, and protecting consumers. With respect to the last priority on consumer protection, Attorney General Ferguson is supporting two bills in the Washington legislature:
In Wengui v. Clark Hill, PLC, Judge Boasberg of the District Court for the District of Columbia, granted the plaintiff’s motion to compel the defendant to produce a report and additional materials associated with a cyberattack. In its ruling, the court emphasized that materials that would otherwise be created in the ordinary course of
On January 20, the White House announced the acting agency leadership in the next phase of the transition of government. As part of that transition, President Joe Biden appointed Dave Uejio to serve as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This news followed on the same day Director Kraninger, appointed by
On January 11, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it has settled with a California-based photo app developer involving allegations that it was building and using its users’ photos and videos to create facial recognition technology without their express consent.
Facial recognition software is typically comprised of three steps: detection, mapping, and identification. During the
On January 18, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed Clyde “Ed” Sniffen to be Alaska’s next attorney general, subject to approval by the Alaska legislature. Sniffen has served as acting attorney general since the resignation of Kevin Clarkson in August 2020.
In December 2020, Sniffen was among the state attorneys general who supported an amicus brief