attorney general

The Attorney General's office of California today announced a new Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit in the state's Department of Justice that will hold companies accountable for safeguarding consumer data.

The newly created unit will reside within the eCrime Unit established last year to prosecute identity theft, data intrusions and crimes involving the use of technology. The office will enforce privacy protections using existing state and federal laws that regulate how companies can collect, store, use and destroy personal data, as well as educate consumers on their rights and help industry develop best practices, said Travis LeBlanc, Special … Read more

Facebook will require developers to include privacy policies in apps used by mobile users on the social network. The move is part of an effort led by the California Attorney General's office aimed at getting Internet companies to provide better privacy protections for consumers.

Facebook is the seventh company to make that commitment aimed at providing consumers information about the data that apps will access, use, and share before they download them, according to a statement released today from California Attorney General Kamala Harris. In February, Harris announced agreements from Apple, Google and Microsoft, as well as Amazon, Hewlett-Packard … Read more

The Texas Attorney General seems unhappy with Google. What started as an antitrust lawsuit two years ago has now morphed into an investigation into the Web giant's alleged attempts to withhold documents from the Lone Star State.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a civil lawsuit against Google this week alleging that the search engine has redacted or refused to turn over documentation based on false attorney-client privilege, according to AllThingsD. Supposedly, Google has refused to hand over 14,500 documents claiming attorney-client privilege. Abbott said some of these documents are indeed protected, however, many others are not.

Here'… Read more

Adscend Media, accused by the Washington state attorney general in January of running a "likejacking" scam on Facebook, agreed today to a consent decree to stop spamming Facebook users and pay the state $100,000 in attorneys fees.

Facebook, which also sued Adscend in January over likejacking claims, settled that case for undisclosed terms last week.

In the state's suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, it accused Adscend of tricking Facebook users into clicking links that then mark a site as one they "like" on their Facebook news feed. That, in turn, … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--California's Office of the Attorney General has gotten agreements from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, and Research In Motion to improve privacy protections on mobile apps.

The companies will require developers to include privacy policies in their apps so that users will be informed about the data that apps will access, use, and share before they download the apps, California Attorney General Kamal Harris said today in a news conference. The news follows disclosure that some mobile apps were using address book data without user notification or permission.

Basically, California's Online Privacy Protection Act, one of the … Read more

The New York Attorney General has agreed to terminate its antitrust lawsuit against Intel.

Intel and the New York Attorney General have agreed to terminate the AG's lawsuit alleging violation of U.S. and state antitrust laws that was filed by the New York Attorney General in November 2009, Intel said today.

The agreement, which follows a December 2011 court ruling that reduced the scope of the New York lawsuit, "expressly states that Intel does not admit either any violation of law or that the allegations in the complaint are true, and it calls for no changes to … Read more

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers today that the Justice Department's antitrust division is "ready and eager" to pursue its lawsuit and stop AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

Holder said the division is "committed to seeing this through," Reuters reported today. Holder was speaking at an oversight meeting with the Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel.

In August, the Justice Department sued to block the proposed $39 billion merger, putting the brakes on what many in the industry assumed to be a done deal. The Justice Department cited concern over competition … Read more

Seven states have hopped on the growing bandwagon of opponents of AT&T's planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

The attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington today joined the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit to block the deal between AT&T and T-Mobile.

The participation of the states adds another dose of uncertainty to a deal that is already teetering on the edge of collapse. The Justice Department's decision to oppose the merger has thrown AT&T for a loop, leaving the telecommunications giant scrambling to save the … Read more

Citing a need to protect consumers' personal information online, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is calling for a meeting with executives from Apple and Google to get more details on what the companies are doing with location information collected from consumer devices.

In a statement posted to Madigan's site and picked up by Reuters, letters from Madigan have been sent to both companies asking about what data is being kept and for how long. The attorney general also seeks to find out what that data is being used for.

"I want to know whether consumers have been informed … Read more