ESPN and Privacy?

Author: Clarip’s Director of Sales

For those of you that are regular readers of my blog, you know that I have a passion for politics. As a former professor of constitutional law, a student once told me that my life was really about three things – “politics, sports, and Seinfeld.” While I laughed nervously, it also dawned on me that that student may very well have been right! However, in recent years, I have come to add one more item to that truncated list – privacy!

As such, it was great interest that I read an article this week about two of the aforementioned passions – sports and privacy. In a somewhat arcane ruling dealing largely with “standing,” the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rendered a judgment in favor of ESPN, claiming that the ESPN had NOT VIOLATED a user’s privacy, as claimed by the petitioner, and that the information disclosed to Adobe by using the ESPN app was not “personally identifiable.” In short, the Court ruled that although ESPN was right on the merits, the petitioner DID have standing and thus a lawsuit could proceed.

In what is likely to be a bonanza of rulings to come “down the pipe” in the years ahead, the Federal Court system is increasingly being asked to render judgment on what is “personally identifiable” as it relates to technology, and as such, what are the appropriate guidelines in dealing with data and technology unforeseen just 20 years ago? In rendering judgment for ESPN, Circuit Judge Susan Graber writes, “the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) is a substantive provision that protects concrete interests,” and that the VPPA “does not protect only against harms such as embarrassment and harassment — as Defendant argues. Rather, the statute also protects privacy interests more generally by ensuring that consumers retain control over their personal information.”

In layman’s terms, what this means is that although ESPN may have won this one battle, the war to protect personal privacy has merely begun, and is likely to get more heightened. From mobile devices and computers to tablets and IoT devices, the amount of data being generated – and thus used and sold – is growing exponentially. In truth, laws that were written 20, 30, or even 50 years ago may no longer suffice or be germane to the debates of today. The challenges of data protection and privacy are two of today’s preeminent challenges and as such, it more important than ever that you protect yourself.

For those concerned with privacy, either on personal or professional level, I recommend that you visit www.clarip.com. Clarip is an AI based data, privacy and consent management platform.

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Are you ready for the new CA privacy law? Start preparing compliance efforts with Clarip for the California Consumer Privacy Act. Enforcement starts January 1, 2020 so better start planning funding in your 2019 budget now.