DATA PROTECTION

LAWS OF THE WORLD

United States

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DATA PROTECTION LAWS OF THE WORLD

UNITED STATES

Last modified 29 January 2023

LAW

United States privacy law is a complex patchwork of national, state and local privacy laws and regulations. There is no
comprehensive national privacy law in the United States. However, the US does have a number of largely sector-specific privacy
and data security laws at the federal level, as well as many more privacy laws at the state (and local) level. In recent years,
beginning with California, states have begun to introduce their own comprehensive privacy laws, and other states are expected to
follow and enact their own comprehensive state privacy laws. Although a bipartisan draft bill (the ‘American Data Privacy
and Protection Act’) was introduced in 2022, several senators were in opposition of the bill, and comprehensive privacy
law on the federal level is not expected to pass any time soon.

Federal and State Privacy Laws and Regulations

Federal laws and regulations include those that apply to financial institutions, telecommunications companies, credit reporting
agencies and healthcare providers, as well as driving records, children’s privacy, telemarketing, email marketing and
communications privacy laws.

There are also a number of state privacy and data security laws that overlap with federal law—some of these state laws are
preempted in part by federal laws, but others are not. US states have also passed privacy and data security laws and regulations
that apply across sectors and go beyond federal law—such as data security laws, secure destruction, Social Security number
privacy, online privacy, biometric information privacy, and data breach notification laws. Generally, each state’s laws apply
to personal information about residents of that state or activities that occur within that state. Thus, many businesses operating in
the United States must comply not only with applicable federal law, but also with numerous state privacy and security laws and
regulations.

For example, California alone has more than 25 state privacy and data security laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act
(CCPA) and its regulations as recently amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), collectively referred to as the CCPA.
The CCPA, as amended, introduced additional definitions and individual rights, and imposed additional requirements and
restrictions on the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. The CCPA is also unique among state comprehensive
privacy laws in that, as of January 1, 2023, it applies to HR and B2B personal information. Enforcement of the CPRA amendments
to the CCPA commenced on July 1, 2023 for violations of the new provisions that occur on or after that date.

Notably, updated CCPA regulations based on the CPRA amendments were finalized on March 29, 2023, with enforcement by the
California Attorney General and the newly established California Privacy Protection Agency (‘CPPA’ or
’Agency’) expected to begin on July 1, 2023. However, following a suit filed by the California Chamber of
Commerce, the Sacramento district court ruled that the Agency was required to give businesses 12-months between finalizing a
CCPA regulation and commencing enforcement, effectively delaying enforcement of the amended regulations to March 29, 2024.
This delay does not affect the Agency or the California Attorney General’s ability to enforce the version of the CCPA
amended by the CPRA (effective July 1, 2023) or the existing (i.e., pre-2023-amendment) CCPA regulations (effective August 14,
2020).

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In late 2022, the California legislature also passed the California Age-Appropriate Design Code, which was slated to take effect July
1, 2024 and would apply to companies that meet the definition of “business” under the CCPA and that provide
online services that are likely to be accessed by individuals under 18 years of age. However, on September 18, 2023, a California
District Court issued an injunction blocking the law from coming into effect on First Amendment grounds. Following an appeal to
the Ninth Circuit by the California Attorney General's office, the fate of the law is currently uncertain. More information on the
California Age-Appropriate Design Code can is available at
https://www.dlapiper.com/en-us/insights/publications/2023/05/californias-age-appropriate-design-code-act

Beyond California, Colorado's Attorney General finalized the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) Rules on March 15, 2023, which add
significantly to the CPA’s obligations on businesses. Both the CPA and the CPA Rules went into effect July 1, 2023.
Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia’s privacy laws also took effect in 2023.

While not identical, the Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia state privacy laws are substantially similar to each other in most
key aspects. Further, unlike the CCPA, all are also generally inapplicable to personal information collected about, and processed in
the context of, employee and business relationships. On the other hand, while the CCPA has some practical similarities with these
state laws, it adopts more granular definitions, requirements, and restrictions that vary considerably from these laws, and, notably,
applies to personal information collected from California residents in employment and B2B contexts.

2023 brought a significant development in the health data space, with Washington passing the My Health My Data Act (MHMD).
The law ostensibly applies only to consumer health data, but its exceptionally broad definitions and scope combined with its
private right of action may mean its enforcement touches on data many companies may not typically consider
“health” data. More information on the MHMD Act is available at
https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2023/04/washington-state-passes-my-health-my-data-act

Finally, the pace of state privacy legislation accelerated in 2023 overall, with the following states passing their own comprehensive
privacy laws or variations thereof:

Florida (effective July 1, 2024)

Oregon (effective July 1, 2024)
Texas (effective July 1, 2024)
Montana (effective Oct. 1, 2024)
Delaware (effective Jan. 1, 2025)
Iowa (effective Jan. 1, 2025)
Tennessee (effective Jan. 1, 2025)
New Jersey (effective Jan. 15, 2025)
Indiana (effective Jan. 1, 2026)

More information on the US state privacy laws is available at https://privacymatters.dlapiper.com/state-privacy-laws/

Enforcement of Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices

In the United States, consumer protection laws, which prohibit unfair and deceptive business practices, provide another avenue for
enforcement against businesses for their privacy and security practices.

At the federal level, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uses its authority to protect consumers against unfair or deceptive
trade practices, to take enforcement actions against businesses for materially unfair privacy and data security practices. The FTC
uses this authority to, among other things, take enforcement actions and investigate companies for:

Failing to implement reasonable data security measures

Making materially inaccurate or misleading privacy and security statements, including in privacy policies
Failing to abide by applicable industry self-regulatory principles
Transferring or attempting to transfer personal information to an acquiring entity in a bankruptcy or M&A transaction, in a
manner not expressly disclosed on the applicable consumer privacy policy

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Violating consumer privacy rights by collecting, using, sharing or failing to adequately protect consumer information, in
violation of standards established in their prior enforcement precedents

Many state attorneys general have similar enforcement authority over unfair and deceptive business practices, including failure to
implement reasonable security measures and violations of consumer privacy rights that harm consumers in their states. State
attorneys general also sometimes work together on enforcement actions against companies for actions that broadly affect the
consumers of multiple states (such as data breaches).

Privacy class actions also continue to be a key risk area in the United States, including in the context of biometric privacy (under
the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act), text messaging (under the federal Telephone Consumer Privacy Act) and call recording,
wiretapping and related claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act and other state laws. Online monitoring and targeting
activities—including via cookies, pixels, chat bots, and so-called “session replay” tools—are an area of
particular focus in the United States from a regulator and enforcement perspective and are also a developing litigation risk area.

DEFINITIONS

Definition of personal data

Varies widely by law and regulation. The definition of personal information varies under US law. Some laws—such as data
breach and security laws—apply more narrowly, to sensitive personal information, such as government identifiers, financial
account information, password, biometrics, health insurance or medical information, and other information that can lead to
identity fraud and theft or financial harm. On the other hand, under a number of state and federal laws, personal information
broadly includes any information that identifies or is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual.

California

Under the CCPA, personal information includes information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being
associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household. The definition
specifically includes name, alias, contact information, government IDs, biometrics, genetic data, location data, account numbers,
education history, purchase history, online and device IDs, and search and browsing history and other online activities, if such
information is linked or linkable with a particular consumer or household. Excluded from the definition are deidentified
information and information lawfully made publicly available through various means, such as through government records or by the
consumer.

Under the law, 'consumer' is broadly defined as any resident of California.

Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Virginia

Under the other thirteen comprehensive state privacy laws, personal data includes information that is linked or reasonably linkable
to an identified or identifiable individual, who is a resident of the particular state acting an individual or household capacity.
Deidentified data, personal data made publicly available, and personal data about individuals acting in an employment or B2B
context are generally not in scope.

Definition of sensitive personal data

Varies widely by sector and by type of statute.

Generally, includes personal health data, financial data, credit worthiness data, student data, biometric data, personal information
collected online from children under 13, and information that can be used to carry out identity theft or fraud are considered
sensitive, and subject to additional restrictions and regulations.

For example, state breach notification laws and data security laws generally apply to more sensitive categories of information, such
as Social security numbers and other government identifiers, credit card and financial account numbers, passwords and user
credentials, health or medical information, insurance ID, digital signatures, and/or biometrics.

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California

The CCPA defines sensitive personal information as personal information that reveals about a consumer one or more of the
following types of information, including:

Social Security, driver’s license, state identification card or passport number

account log-in, financial account, debit card or credit card number in combination with any required security or access
code, password or credentials allowing access to an account
precise geolocation
racial or origin, citizenship or immigration status, religious or philosophical beliefs, or union membership
contents of a consumer’s mail, email, and text messages unless the business is the intended recipient of the
communication
genetic data
biometric information
health information
information about sex life or sexual orientation

Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Virginia

Under the other thirteen comprehensive state privacy laws, the definition of sensitive data is a sub-cateogry of peronsal data and
largely the same with various states adding or subtracting certain data elements from the above list.

Washington

Washington’s MHMD Act introduced a very broad definition of consumer health data, which includes: “personal
information that is linked or reasonably linkable to a consumer and that identifies the consumer's past, present, or future physical
or mental health status."

For the purposes of this definition, physical or mental health status includes, but is not limited to:

Individual health conditions, treatment, diseases, or diagnosis

Social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions
Health-related surgeries or procedures
Use or purchase of prescribed medication
Bodily functions, vital signs, symptoms, or measurements of the information described in subsection (8)(b)
Diagnoses or diagnostic testing, treatment, or medication
Gender-affirming care information
Reproductive or sexual health information
Biometric data
Genetic data
Precise location information that could reasonably indicate a consumer's attempt to acquire or receive health services or
supplies
Data that identifies a consumer seeking health care services
Any information that a regulated entity or a small business, or their respective processor, processes to associate or
identify a consumer with the data described in (b)(i) through (xii) of this subsection that is derived or extrapolated from
nonhealth information (such as proxy, derivative, inferred, or emergent data by any means, including algorithms or
machine learning)

This definition could arguably include any category of personal data (e.g., the inclusion of inference data makes it difficult to
exclude any data whatsoever in the health, wellness, and fitness space). In addition, “health care services” includes
any service provided to a person to assess, measure, improve, or learn about a person's health.

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NATIONAL DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY

There is no single national authority.

With some exceptions (such as for banks, credit unions and insurance companies), the FTC has jurisdiction over most commercial
entities and has authority to issue and enforce federal privacy regulations (including telemarketing, email marketing, and children's
privacy) and to take enforcement action to protect consumers against unfair or deceptive trade practices, including materially
unfair privacy and data security practices.

Many state attorneys general have similar enforcement authority over unfair and deceptive business practices, including failure to
implement reasonable security measures and violations of consumer privacy rights that harm consumers in their states.

California

The California Attorney General and the California Privacy Protection Agency (the Agency) share authority to enforce the CCPA.

California consumers also have a private right of action under the CCPA for certain data breaches, and the CCPA provides for
statutory damages.

Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Virginia

State Attorneys General in all the other thirteen states have authority to enforce their state comprehensive privacy laws.
Additionally, in some states such as Colorado, district attorneys can enforce the law.

None of these states currently provide for a private right of action.

Washington

The Washington Attorney General has the authority to enforce the MHMD Act.

Washington residents also have a private right of action under the Act, but unlike the CCPA the MHMD Act does not provide for
statutory damages, meaning plaintiffs must prove actual damages to succeed.

Sector-Specific Enforcement

In addition, a wide range of sector-specific regulators, particularly those in the healthcare, financial services, telecommunications
and insurance sectors, have authority to issue and enforce privacy and security regulations, with respect to entities under their
jurisdiction.

REGISTRATION

There is no requirement to register databases or personal information processing activities. However, four states currently
impose certain registration requirements on data brokers:

California

The CCPA (as amended in 2019) requires (subject to some exceptions) that data brokers register with the California Attorney
General (however, following amendments to the data broker registration law in late 2023, the data broker registration process
and list is being transferred to the Agency). Under the law, a "data broker" is defined as a business that knowingly collects and sells
to third parties the personal information of a consumer with whom the business does not have a direct relationship. The terms
"sell" and "personal information" are defined as set forth in the CCPA.

Oregon

In 2023, Oregon passed a law requiring data brokers register on an annual basis with the Department of Consumer and Business
Services before collecting personal data in Oregon. Companies must register if they maintain data that is “categorized or

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organized for sale or licensing to another person.” The law took effect on January 1, 2024.

Texas

In 2023, Texas passed a law requiring data brokers register with the Secretary of State. The law has a narrower scope than most
of the other state data broker registration laws in that it only applies to businesses that (1) in a 12-month period, derive more
than 50% of their revenue from the processing or transfer of personal data that the business did not collect directly from
individuals, or (2) derive revenue from the processing or transfer of personal data of more than 50,000 individuals whose data the
business did not directly collect. The law took effect on September 1, 2023, with first registrations due March 1, 2024.

Vermont

In 2018, Vermont passed a law requiring data brokers to register with the Secretary of State and adhere to minimum data security
standards. Under the law a “data broker” is defined as a company that collects computerized, personal information
of Vermont residents with whom the company has no direct relationship, and either sell or licenses that information.

In addition, several state laws require entities that engage in certain types of telemarketing activities to register with the state
attorney general or other consumer protection agency.

DATA PROTECTION OFFICERS

With the exception of entities regulated by HIPAA, there is no general requirement to appoint a formal data security officer or
data privacy officer.

Massachusetts and some other state laws and federal regulations, including the recently updated FTC Safeguards Rule (applicable
to non-banking financial institutions), require organizations to appoint one or more employees to maintain their information
security program.

COLLECTION & PROCESSING

US privacy laws and self-regulatory principles vary widely, but generally require that a notice be provided or made available
pre-collection (eg, in a privacy policy) that discloses a company's collection, use and disclosure practices, the related choices
individuals have regarding their personal information, and the company's contact information.

Opt-in consent is required under certain circumstance to collect, use and disclose certain sensitive data, such as health
information, credit reports, financial information, children’s personal information, biometric data, video viewing choices,
geolocation data and telecommunication usage information.

All states with comprehensive privacy laws, other than California, Florida, Iowa, and Utah require a business obtain consent from
consumers to collect their sensitive data. California requires businesses to provide individuals a right to limit use of their sensitive
data, and Iowa and Utah require individuals be provided a notice and right to opt-out of the collection of sensitive data.

The (federal) Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires verifiable parental consent prior to the
collection of any personal information from children under 13. In addition, the CCPA requires that a business obtain explicit
consent prior to the sale of any personal information about a consumer that the business has "actual knowledge" is less than 16
years old, and where the consumer is less than 13 years old, express parental authorization is required. (As discussed further
below, the definition of "sale" under the CCPA is very broad and may include online advertising and retargeting activities, for
example.). Amendments to the CCPA expanded this concept to include “sharing” of a minor’s personal
information (meaning the disclosing of personal information for purposes of cross-contextual behavioral advertising).

Further, companies generally need to obtain opt-in consent prior to using, disclosing or otherwise processing personal information
in a manner that is materially different than what was disclosed in the privacy policy applicable when the personal information was
initially collected. The FTC deems such changes ‘retroactive material changes’ and considers it unfair and deceptive
to implement a retroactive material change without obtaining prior, affirmative consent. Under the CCPA, which applies to
individual and household data about California residents, businesses must, among other things:

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At or before collection, provide a notice to consumers disclosing the categories of personal information to be collected.
the purposes for collecting such information, whether such information will be sold or shared, and how long such
information will be retained or the criteria to determine such period.
Post a privacy policy that discloses
the categories of personal information collected, categories of personal information disclosed for a business
purpose, and categories of personal information "sold" and "shared" by the business in the prior 12 months
the purposes for which the business collects, uses, sells, and shares personal information
the categories of sources from which the business collects personal information
the categories of third parties to whom the business discloses personal information and
the rights consumers have regarding their personal information and how to exercise those rights
Include a “do-not-sell-or-share my information” link on the business's website and page where consumers
can opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information (if applicable)
Generally, provide at least two methods for consumers to submit CCPA requests to the business, including an online
method (e.g., submission of an online form) and a toll-free number

Other California privacy laws (eg, the California “Shine the Light Law” and the California Online Privacy Protection
Act) currently in force impose additional notice obligations, including:

Where any personal information is disclosed to a third party for their own marketing use, a specific notice about such
disclosure (eg, in a company’s privacy policy) must be provided and accessible through a special link on their
homepage. Further, the law gives California residents to request a list of the personal information and third parties to
whom such information was disclosed for marketing purposes in the prior 12 months
Whether the company honors any do-not-track mechanisms

Under the comprehensive US state privacy laws , individuals have various qualified rights to request access to, correction, and
deletion of their personal information and to “opt out” of sales, sharing, and the use of their personal information
for targeted advertising purposes. Further, these laws require businesses to conduct data protection or risk assessments before
engaging in certain higher-risk processing activities, such as processing that relates to:

Certain unfair or intrusive profiling or targeted advertising purposes

Selling of personal data
Processing sensitive data

All states other than California and Utah require businesses to establish an internal process whereby consumers may appeal a
controller’s refusal to take action on a privacy request and, where the appeal is denied, a method by which the consumer
can submit a complaint to the state’s Attorney General.

Other states impose a wide range of specific requirements, particularly in the student and employee privacy areas. For example, a
significant number of states have enacted employee social media privacy laws, and, in 2014 and 2015, a disparate array of education
privacy laws. In addition, there are several sector-specific privacy laws that impose notice obligations, significantly limit permitted
disclosures of personal information, and grant individuals the right to access or review records about the individual that are held
by the regulated entity.

The US also regulates marketing communications extensively, including telemarketing, text message marketing, fax marketing and
email marketing (which is discussed below).

TRANSFER

There are generally no geographic transfer restrictions that apply in the US, except regarding the storing of some governmental
records and information. However, the HIPAA Privacy Rule requires that covered entities not disclose protected health
information outside the US without appropriate safeguards.

SECURITY

Most US businesses are required to take reasonable technical, physical and organizational measures to protect the security of

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sensitive personal information (eg, health or financial information, telecommunications usage information, biometric data, or
information that would require security breach notification). A few states have enacted laws imposing more specific security
requirements for such data.

For example, Massachusetts has enacted regulations that apply to any company that collects or maintains sensitive personal
information (eg, name in combination with Social Security number, driver's license, passport number, or credit card or financial
account number) on Massachusetts residents. Among other things, the Massachusetts regulations require regulated entities to
have a comprehensive, written information security program and set forth the minimum components of such program, including
binding all service providers who touch this sensitive personal information to protect it in accordance with the regulations.
Massachusetts law includes encryption requirements on the transmission of sensitive personal information across wireless
networks or beyond the logical or physical controls of an organization, as well as on sensitive personal data stored on laptops and
portable storage devices.

Some states impose further security requirements on payment card data and other sensitive personal information. In 2019, New
York passed a new law (the New York “SHIELD Act”) setting forth minimum security obligations for safeguarding
private information. The SHIELD Act does not mandate specific safeguards but rather provides that a business will "be deemed to
be in compliance" with the law if it implements a security program that includes elements set forth in the SHIELD Act.

The CCPA and Washington’s MHMD Act provide a private right of action to individuals for certain breaches of
unencrypted personal information or consumer health data, respectively, which increases class action risks posed by data
breaches.

There are also several other sectoral data security laws and regulations that impose specific security requirements on regulated
entities – such as in the financial, insurance and health sectors. Federal financial regulators impose extensive security
requirements on the financial services sector, including requirements for security audits of all service providers who receive data
from financial institutions. For example, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) regulations impose extensive
cybersecurity and data security requirements on licensees of the NYDFS, which includes financial services and insurance
companies. The federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and implementing rules and regulations require financial institutions to implement
reasonable security measures.

HIPAA regulated entities are subject to much more extensive data security requirements. HIPAA security regulations apply to
so-called ‘covered entities’ such as doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharmacies and other healthcare providers, as well
as their ‘business associates’ which include service providers who have access to, process, store or maintain any
protected health information on behalf of a covered entity. ‘Protected health information’ under HIPAA generally
includes any personally identifiable information collected by or on behalf of the covered entity during the course of providing its
services to individuals.

Internet of Things

California enacted the first US Internet of Things (IoT) legislation, effective January 1, 2020. Under SB 327, manufacturers of most
IoT and Bluetooth connected devices will be required to implement reasonable security features ‘appropriate to the
nature and the function of the device and the information the device may collect, contain or transmit’ and
‘designed to protect the device and any information contained therein from unauthorized access, destruction, use,
modification, or disclosure.’ To the extent a device is equipped with a means for authentication outside a local area
network, it shall be deemed a reasonable security feature if (i) the preprogrammed is unique to each device manufactured, or (ii)
the device forces the user to set a unique password upon first use.

BREACH NOTIFICATION

All 50 US states, Washington, DC, and most US territories (including, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) have passed
breach notification laws that require notifying state residents of a security breach involving more sensitive categories of
information, such as Social Security numbers and other government identifiers, credit card and financial account numbers, health
or medical information, insurance ID, tax ID, birthdate, as well as online account credentials, digital signatures and/or biometrics.

Under many state laws, where more than 500 individuals are impacted, notice must also be provided to credit bureaus. Nearly half

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of states also require notice to state Attorneys General and / or other state officials of certain data breaches. Further, certain
states require impacted individuals to be provided with credit monitoring services for specified lengths of time if the breach
involved Social Security numbers. Finally, some state data breach laws impose certain (varying) notice content and timing
requirements with respect to notice to individuals and to state Attorneys General and/or other state officials.

Federal laws require notification in the case of breaches of healthcare information, breaches of information from financial
institutions, breaches of telecom usage information held by telecommunication providers, and breaches of government agency
information.

ENFORCEMENT

Various entities enforce US national and state privacy laws. Violations of privacy laws and rules are generally enforced by the FTC,
state Attorneys General, or the regulator for the industry sector in question. Civil penalties can be significant, particularly for
uncooperative or repeat offenders.

In addition, individuals may bring private rights of action (and class actions) for certain privacy or security violations.

Some privacy laws (for example, credit reporting, marketing and electronic communications, video viewing history, call recording
and cable communications privacy laws) may be enforced through private rights of action, which give rise to class action lawsuits
for significant statutory damages and attorney’s fees, and individuals may bring actions for actual damages from data
breaches.

The CCPA provides individuals with a private right of action and statutory damages, in the event of certain breaches of
unencrypted personal information, where a business has failed to implement reasonable data security procedures (this applies to
most categories of personal information under California’s breach notification law) – this raises significant class
action risks. Currently, no other comprehensive state privacy laws contain a private right of action.

In June 2018, Ohio became the first US state to pass cybersecurity safe harbor legislation. Under SB 220, a company that has
suffered a data breach of personal information has an affirmative defense if it has ‘created, maintained, and complied with a
written cybersecurity program that contains administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information that
reasonably conforms to an industry recognized cybersecurity framework’ (e.g., PCI-DSS standards, NIST Framework, NIST
special publications 800-171, 800-53, and 800-53a, FedRAMP security assessment framework, HIPAA, GLBA).

ELECTRONIC MARKETING

The US regulates marketing communications extensively, including email and text message marketing, as well as telemarketing and
fax marketing.

Email

The CAN-SPAM Act is a federal law that applies labeling and opt-out requirements to all commercial email messages. CAN-SPAM
generally allows a company to send commercial emails to any recipient, provided the recipient has not opted out of receiving such
emails from the sender, the email identifies the sender and the sender’s contact information, and the email contains
instructions on how the recipient can easily and without cost opt out of future commercial emails from the sender. The FTC and
state Attorneys General, as well as ISPs and corporate email systems can sue violators. Knowingly falsifying the origin or routing of
a commercial email message is a federal crime.

Text Messages

Federal and state regulations apply to the sending of marketing text messages to individuals. Express consent is required to send
text messages to individuals, and, for marketing text messages, express written consent is required (electronic written consent is
sufficient, but verbal consent is not). The applicable regulations also specify the form of consent. This is a significant class action
risk area, and any text messaging (marketing or informational) program needs to be carefully reviewed for strict compliance with
legal requirements.

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Calls to Wireless Phone Numbers

Similar to text messages, federal and state regulations apply to marketing calls to wireless phone numbers. Prior express consent
is required to place phone calls to wireless numbers using any autodialing equipment, and, for marketing calls, express written
consent is required (electronic written consent is sufficient, but verbal consent is not). The applicable regulations also specify the
form of consent. This is a significant class action risk area, and any campaign or program that involves calls (marketing or
informational) to phone numbers that may be wireless phone numbers needs to be carefully reviewed for strict compliance with
legal requirements. The definition of autodialing equipment is generally considered to, broadly, include any telephone system that
is capable of (whether or not used or configured storing or producing telephone numbers to be called, using a random or
sequential number generator.

Telemarketing

Beyond the rules applicable to text messaging and calling to wireless phone numbers, there are federal and state telemarketing
laws as well. Federal telemarketing laws apply to most telemarketing calls and programs, and state telemarketing law will apply to
telemarketing calls placed to or from within that particular state. As a result, most telemarketing calls are governed by federal law,
as well as the law of one or more states. Telemarketing rules vary by state, and address many different aspects of telemarketing,
such as calling time restrictions, do-not-call registries, opt-out requests, mandatory disclosures, requirements for completing a
sale, executing a contract or collecting payment during the call, further restrictions on the use of auto-dialers and pre-recorded
messages, and record-keeping requirements. Many states also require telemarketers to register or obtain a license to place
telemarketing calls.

Fax Marketing

Federal law and regulations generally prohibit the sending of unsolicited advertising by fax without prior, express consent.
Violations of the law are subject to civil actions and have been the subject of numerous class action lawsuits. The law exempts
faxes to recipients that have an established business relationship with the company on whose behalf the fax is sent, as long as the
recipient has not opted out of receiving fax advertisements and has provided their fax number ‘voluntarily,’ a
concept which the law specifically defines.

The law also requires that each fax advertisement contain specific information, including:

A ‘clear and conspicuous’ opt-out method on the first page of the fax
A statement that the recipient may make a request to the sender not to send any future faxes and that failure to comply
with the request within 30 days is unlawful, and
A telephone number, fax number, and cost-free mechanism to opt-out of faxes, which permit consumers to make opt-out
requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Violations are subject to a private right of action and statutory damages, and thus pose a risk of class action lawsuits

ONLINE PRIVACY

There is no specific federal law that per se regulates the use of cookies, web beacons and other similar tracking mechanisms.
However, the state online privacy laws require notice of online tracking and of how to opt out of it.

Under California law, any company that tracks any personally identifiable information about consumers over time and across
multiple websites must disclose in its privacy policy whether the company honors any ‘Do-Not-Track’ method or
provides users a way to opt out of such tracking. The same law also requires website operators to disclose in their privacy policy
whether any third parties may collect any personally identifiable information about consumers on their website and across other
third party websites, and prohibits the advertising of certain products, services and materials (including alcohol, tobacco, firearms,
certain dietary supplements, ultraviolet tanning, tattoos, obscene matters, etc.). Further, under most of the comprehensive state
laws, information collected via cookies, online, mobile and targeted ads, and other online tracking are subject to the requirements
of the law.

Further, given the broad definition of personal information under the comprehensive state privacy laws, information collected via

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cookies and similar technologies is generally subject to the requirements of the law (e.g., notice and consumer rights). For
example, under the CCPA a 'sale' includes selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or
otherwise communicating a consumer’s personal information by one business to another business or a third party for
monetary or other valuable consideration. ‘Sharing’ under the CCPA is defined as sharing, renting, releasing,
disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other
means, a consumer’s personal information by the business to a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising,
whether or not for monetary or other valuable consideration, including transactions between a business and a third party for
cross-context behavioral advertising for the benefit of a business in which no money is exchanged. These broad definitions sweep
in certain online advertising activities -- for example, where a business permits the collection and use of information through
certain third party cookies and tags on their website, in order to better target the business' ad campaigns on third party websites
or in exchange for compensation from a third party ad network.

Universal Opt-Out Signals / Global Privacy Control (GPC)

Amendments to the CCPA, and recent enforcement actions by the California Attorney General, have highlighted the requirement
that businesses that process personal information for targeted advertising purposes allow consumers to opt-out of sales and
sharing, using an opt-out preferences signal sent by the consumer’s browser or a browser plugin, aso referred to as Global
Privacy Control (GPC). Colorado’s comprehensive privacy law introduces the same requirement, with an effective date of
July 1, 2024.

Minors

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and regulations (COPPA) applies to information collected automatically (eg,
via cookies) from child-directed websites and online services and other websites, online services and third party ad networks or
plug-ins that knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13. COPPA also regulates behavioral advertising to
children under 13 as well as the collection of geolocation information, requiring prior verifiable parental consent to engage in such
advertising or collection.

California law requires that operators of websites or online services that are directed to minors or that knowingly collect
personally identifiable information from minors permit minors that are registered users of their sites to remove any content the
minor has posted from the site or online service. The law does not give minors the right to remove information posted by third
parties. Minors must be given clear notice on how to exercise their right to removal. Certain state privacy laws (such as the
CCPA, CPA or VCDPA) also require that a business obtain explicit consent prior to selling any personal information about an
individual the business has actual knowledge is under 16 years old.

Location Data

Generally, specific notice and consent in needed to collect precise (e.g., mobile device) location information. The CCPA defines
precise geolocation information as “any data derived from a device and that is used or intended to be used to locate a
consumer within a geographic area that is equal to or less than the area of a circle with a radius of one thousand, eight hundred
and fifty (1,850) feet.” Connecticut and Utah law carry similar definitions, albeit with a radius of 1,750 feet.

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KEY CONTACTS

Kate Lucente
Partner and Co-Editor, Data Protection Laws of the World
T +1 813 222 5927
kate.lucente@dlapiper.com

Andrew Serwin
Partner, Global Co-Chair Data Protection, Privacy and Security Group
T +1 858 677 1418
andrew.serwin@dlapiper.com

Jennifer Kashatus
Partner
T +1 202 799 4448
jennifer.kashatus@dlapiper.com

DATA PRIVACY TOOL

You may also be interested in our Data Privacy Scorebox to assess your organization's level of data protection maturity.

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Disclaimer

DLA Piper is a global law firm operating through various separate and distinct legal entities. Further details of these entities can be
found at www.dlapiper.com.

This publication is intended as a general overview and discussion of the subjects dealt with, and does not create a lawyer-client
relationship. It is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a substitute for taking legal advice in any specific situation. DLA
Piper will accept no responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this publication.

This may qualify as 'Lawyer Advertising' requiring notice in some jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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