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Lindsey Tonsager

Lindsey Tonsager co-chairs the firm’s global Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice. She advises clients in their strategic and proactive engagement with the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Congress, the California Privacy Protection Agency, and state attorneys general on proposed changes to data protection laws, and regularly represents clients in responding to investigations and enforcement actions involving their privacy and information security practices.

Lindsey’s practice focuses on helping clients launch new products and services that implicate the laws governing the use of artificial intelligence, data processing for connected devices, biometrics, online advertising, endorsements and testimonials in advertising and social media, the collection of personal information from children and students online, e-mail marketing, disclosures of video viewing information, and new technologies.

Lindsey also assesses privacy and data security risks in complex corporate transactions where personal data is a critical asset or data processing risks are otherwise material. In light of a dynamic regulatory environment where new state, federal, and international data protection laws are always on the horizon and enforcement priorities are shifting, she focuses on designing risk-based, global privacy programs for clients that can keep pace with evolving legal requirements and efficiently leverage the clients’ existing privacy policies and practices. She conducts data protection assessments to benchmark against legal requirements and industry trends and proposes practical risk mitigation measures.

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New Jersey and New Hampshire are the latest states to pass comprehensive privacy legislation, joining California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and Delaware.  Below is a summary of key takeaways. 

New Jersey

On January 8, 2024, the New Jersey state senate passed S.B. 332 (“the Act”), which was signed into law on January 16, 2024.  The Act, which takes effect 365 days after enactment, resembles the comprehensive privacy statutes in Connecticut, Colorado, Montana, and Oregon, though there are some notable distinctions. 

  • Scope and Applicability:  The Act will apply to controllers that conduct business or produce products or services in New Jersey, and, during a calendar year, control or process either (1) the personal data of at least 100,000 consumers, excluding personal data processed for the sole purpose of completing a transaction; or (2) the personal data of at least 25,000 consumers where the business derives revenue, or receives a discount on the price of any goods or services, from the sale of personal data. The Act omits several exemptions present in other state comprehensive privacy laws, including exemptions for nonprofit organizations and information covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
  • Consumer Rights:  Consumers will have the rights of access, deletion, portability, and correction under the Act.  Moreover, the Act will provide consumers with the right to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning the consumer.  The Act will require controllers to develop a universal opt out mechanism by which consumers can exercise these opt out rights within six months of the Act’s effective date.
  • Sensitive Data:  The Act will require consent prior to the collection of sensitive data. “Sensitive data” is defined to include, among other things, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health condition, sex life or sexual orientation, citizenship or immigration status, status as transgender or non-binary, and genetic or biometric data.  Notably, the Act is the first comprehensive privacy statute other than the California Consumer Privacy Act to include financial information in its definition of sensitive data.  The Act defines financial information as an “account number, account log-in, financial account, or credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to a consumer’s financial account.”
  • Opt-In Consent for Certain Processing of Personal Data Concerning Teens:  Unless a controller obtains a consumer’s consent, the Act will prohibit the controller from processing personal data for targeted adverting, sale, or profiling where the controller has actual knowledge, or willfully disregards, that the consumer is between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.
  • Enforcement and Rulemaking:  The Act grants the New Jersey Attorney General enforcement authority.  The Act also provides controllers with a 30-day right to cure for certain violations, which will sunset eighteen months after the Act’s effective date.  Like the comprehensive privacy laws in California and Colorado, the Act authorizes rulemaking under the state Administrative Procedure Act.  Specifically, the Act requires the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety to promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act that are necessary to effectuate the Act’s provisions.  

Continue Reading New Jersey and New Hampshire Pass Comprehensive Privacy Legislation

Ahead of its December 8 board meeting, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) has issued draft risk assessment regulations.  The CPPA has yet to initiate the formal rulemaking process and has stated that it expects to begin formal rulemaking next year, at which time it will also consider draft regulations covering “automated decisionmaking technology” (ADMT), cybersecurity audits, and revisions to existing regulations.  Accordingly, the draft risk assessment regulations are subject to change.  Below are the key takeaways:

When a Risk Assessment is Required: The draft regulations would require businesses to conduct a risk assessment before processing consumers’ personal information in a manner that “presents significant risk to consumers’ privacy.”  The draft regulations identify several activities that would present such risk:

  • Selling or sharing personal information;
  • Processing sensitive personal information (except in certain situations involving employees and independent contractors);
  • Using ADMT (1) for a decision that produces legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer, (2) to profile a consumer who is acting in their capacity as an employee, independent contractor, job applicant, or student, (3) to profile a consumer while they are in a public place, or (4) for profiling for behavioral advertising; or
  • Processing a consumer’s personal information if the business has actual knowledge the consumer is under 16.

Continue Reading CPPA Releases Draft Risk Assessment Regulations

In the past year, plaintiffs have filed a wave of lawsuits asserting claims under the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) in connection with the alleged use of third-party pixels on websites that offer video content.  A recent decision establishes the limits of the VPPA’s reach and provides a well-reasoned ground…

Continue Reading Recent Decision Dismissing VPPA Class Action Claim Shows Limits of VPPA’s Reach

On June 22, 2023, the Oregon state legislature passed the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act, S.B. 619 (the “Act”).  This bill resembles the comprehensive privacy statutes in Colorado, Montana, and Connecticut, though there are some notable distinctions.  If passed, Oregon will be the twelfth state to implement a comprehensive privacy statute…

Continue Reading Oregon Legislature Passes Consumer Privacy Act

On May 22 the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced a $6 million settlement with Edmodo, an ed tech provider, for violations of the COPPA Rule and Section 5 of the FTC Act.  The FTC described this settlement as the first FTC order that will prohibit an ed tech provider from…

Continue Reading FTC Announces COPPA Settlement Against Ed Tech Provider Including Strict Data Minimization and Data Retention Requirements

On December 20, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced its issuance of Health Products Compliance Guidance, which updates and replaces its previous 1998 guidance, Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry.  While the FTC notes that the basic content of the guide is largely left unchanged, this guidance expands the scope of the previous guidance beyond dietary supplements to broadly include claims made about all health-related products, such as foods, over-the-counter drugs, devices, health apps, and diagnostic tests.  This updated guidance emphasizes “key compliance points” drawn from the numerous enforcement actions brought by the FTC since 1998, and discusses associated examples related to topics such as claim interpretation, substantiation, and other advertising issues.

Identifying Claims and Interpreting Advertisement Meaning

The updated guidance first discusses how claims are identified and interpreted, including the difference between express and implied claims.  The updated guidance emphasizes that the phrasing and context of an advertisement may imply that the product is beneficial to the treatment of a disease, which in turn would require that the advertiser be able to substantiate the implied claim with competent and reliable scientific evidence, even if the advertisement contains no express reference to the disease.

In addition, the updated guidance provides examples of when advertisers are expected to disclose qualifying information, such as when a product is targeted to a small percentage of the population or contains potentially serious risks.  When the qualifying information is necessary to avoid deception, the updated guidance contains a discussion of what constitutes a clear and conspicuous disclosure of that qualifying information.  Specifically, the guidance states that a disclosure is required to be provided in the same manner as the claim (i.e., if the claim is made visually, the disclosure is required to be made visually).  A visual claim should stand out, and based on its size, contract, location, and length of time is appears, must be easily noticed, read, and understood.  An audible disclosure should be at a volume, speed, and cadence so as to be easily heard and understood.  On social media, the guidance states a disclosure should be “unavoidable,” which the FTC clarifies does not include hyperlinks.  The qualifying information should not include vague qualifying terms, such as that a product “may” have benefits or “helps” achieve a benefit.Continue Reading FTC Issues New Guidance Regarding Health Products

Many employers and employment agencies have turned to artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools to assist them in making better and faster employment decisions, including in the hiring and promotion processes.  The use of AI for these purposes has been scrutinized and will now be regulated in New York City.  The New…

Continue Reading Artificial Intelligence & NYC Employers: New York City Seeks Publication of Proposed Rules That Would Regulate the Use of AI Tools in the Employment Context