Welcome to Socially Aware

Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

December 16, 2013 - FTC, Privacy
FTC Expands Reach on Conspicuousness of Privacy Disclosures in Settlement with Android Flashlight App
An FTC settlement with a mobile app over its privacy disclosures alleged to be deceptive may seem to be run-of-the-mill. After all, the FTC has been settling cases for years with companies whose data collection and use practices are allegedly not consistent with the
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December 04, 2013 - Privacy, Employment Law, Litigation, Supreme Court
Two Circuits Address the First Amendment Status of Facebook Activity
Two recent U.S. appellate court decisions have clarified the extent to which the First Amendment protects the social media activities of government employees. In Gresham v. City of Atlanta , the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found that an individual’s First Amendment
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December 03, 2013 - Terms of Use, Litigation
Potential Limitations Placed on Unilateral Right to Modify Terms of Use
By: Jessica Kaufman
Contractual provisions giving a website operator the unilateral right to change its end user terms of service are ubiquitous and appear in the online terms of many major social media sites and other websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google. Although amendments to terms
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November 19, 2013 - FTC, Privacy
Mobile Apps: No Surprises, Please
From our sister blog, MoFo Tech : Widely applicable rules regarding consumer privacy disclosures in our increasingly mobile world are only now emerging. Government agencies, individual states, and professional associations are all weighing in on how mobile app developers should disclose how they collect,
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November 12, 2013 - FCC, Privacy
Telemarketing? Try Tweeting
From our sister blog, MoFo Tech : The FCC’s revised rules for telemarketers and text marketers, which took effect on October 16, 2013, could signal a big shift in how companies direct market, posits Julie O’Neill , a Morrison & Foerster attorney specializing in
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November 07, 2013 - FTC, Privacy, Employment Law
Collaborative Consumption – Is It Good to Share?
By: Alistair Maughan
Peer-to-peer (“P2P”) business models based on the Internet and technology platforms have become increasingly innovative. As such models have proliferated, they frequently result in clashes with regulators or established market competitors using existing laws as a defensive tactic. The legal battles that result illustrate
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November 06, 2013 - Terms of Use, Employment Law, UK High Court, Litigation
Recent UK Court Rulings on Employees’ Use of LinkedIn
Following our post on U.S. lawsuits concerning the ownership of LinkedIn and Twitter accounts , we report on a recent United Kingdom High Court ruling that considered who was entitled to operate four LinkedIn Groups , and other UK cases that have addressed related
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October 30, 2013 - Privacy
A Warning for Websites Allowing Data Collection for Online Behavioral Advertising
The Better Business Bureau’s Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program (“the Accountability Program”) issued its first ever compliance warning on October 14, a move that is intended to clarify the obligations of websites where data are gathered for Online Behavioral Advertising (“OBA”) purposes. The result
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September 30, 2013 - Securities Law
The Guide to Social Media and the Securities Laws
REGULATION FD Beginning in 1999 and continuing into 2000, media reports about selective disclosure of material nonpublic information by issuers raised concerns that select market professionals who were privy to this information profited at the expense of others. A consensus began to emerge that
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September 08, 2013 - Privacy, Wearable Computers
Peering Into the Future: Google Glass and the Law
Sign offered by Stop the Cyborgs to indicate a ‘no-Glass’ zone. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. What Is Google Glass? As most Socially Aware readers know, Google Glass (“Glass”) is a form of wearable technology that gives
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Welcome to Socially Aware

FTC Expands Reach on Conspicuousness of Privacy Disclosures in Settlement with Android Flashlight App

Two Circuits Address the First Amendment Status of Facebook Activity

Potential Limitations Placed on Unilateral Right to Modify Terms of Use

By: Jessica Kaufman

Mobile Apps: No Surprises, Please

Telemarketing? Try Tweeting

Collaborative Consumption – Is It Good to Share?

By: Alistair Maughan

Recent UK Court Rulings on Employees’ Use of LinkedIn

A Warning for Websites Allowing Data Collection for Online Behavioral Advertising

The Guide to Social Media and the Securities Laws

Peering Into the Future: Google Glass and the Law