Internet Privacy: Defending Against the NJ Consumer Fraud Act

The Internet is a place for consumers to shop, bank, date, reconnect, network and do almost anything else one can imagine. In exchange for these modern online conveniences, consumers project into the world extremely personal information ranging from their Social Security numbers to their purchasing and browsing patterns. The sharing of such personal information raises many concerns with respect to Internet privacy. Specifically, the concern is that sensitive personal information, which is transmitted into the Internet for specific intended use, is being manipulated and taken advantage of by various online companies and developers.

As such, federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state attorneys general act as consumer watchdogs in light of these Internet privacy concerns. The FTC released its guidelines for mobile application developers titled, “Marketing Your Mobile App: Get It Right from the Start.” The guidelines “assist mobile application developers observe truth-in-advertising and basic privacy principles when marketing their apps,” including collecting sensitive information only with consent. In In the Matter of Google, Inc., various state attorneys general investigated the privacy practices of the Internet giant Google. Using respective state consumer protection statutes, the settlement resolved allegations that Google unlawfully circumvented the default privacy settings in Safari web browsers.