Introduction to the U.S. Privacy Environment
Free Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States practice — 6 questions on Introduction to the U.S. Privacy Environment, with explanations. No sign-up. Full 12-question mixed test →
A mobile app enables in-app purchases by default on children's accounts without parental consent, causing widespread unauthorized charges. The FTC brings an enforcement action under its unfairness authority (15 U.S.C. § 45(n)) rather than its deception authority. Which combination of elements must the FTC establish to prevail on an unfairness theory?
Section 5(n) codifies the three-part unfairness test: substantial injury, not reasonably avoidable, and not outweighed by benefits to consumers or competition. This is distinct from the deception test.
A local newspaper publishes an article revealing that a private citizen (not a public figure) underwent a specific elective medical procedure five years ago. The information is factually accurate but was obtained from a source with no legitimate public interest in the matter, and publication causes the individual severe embarrassment. Which common law privacy tort is most directly implicated?
Public disclosure of private facts addresses the publication of true, private, non-newsworthy information that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, matching this fact pattern exactly.
Which entity is primarily responsible for administering compliance reviews and referring non-compliant companies to the FTC under the Digital Advertising Alliance's (DAA) self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising?
BBB National Programs administers the Digital Advertising Accountability Program, which monitors industry compliance with DAA self-regulatory principles and refers unresolved violations to the FTC for potential enforcement.
In Carpenter v. United States (2018), the Supreme Court held that government acquisition of historical cell-site location information (CSLI) constitutes a Fourth Amendment search requiring a warrant when the request covers a period of at least how many days?
The Carpenter majority noted that accessing even as little as seven days of CSLI gives rise to Fourth Amendment concerns, rejecting the third-party doctrine's automatic application to this category of records.
A state attorney general brings an enforcement action against a company under the state's 'mini-FTC Act' (unfair and deceptive trade practices statute) for failing to honor its own published privacy policy. This enforcement approach best illustrates which characteristic of the U.S. privacy law structure?
U.S. privacy regulation is sectoral and multi-layered; state AGs enforce state consumer protection ('mini-FTC') statutes concurrently with FTC Section 5 enforcement, illustrating overlapping federal and state authority rather than a single unified regime.
A newspaper lawfully obtains and publishes truthful information about a matter of public significance, even though the information was originally disclosed to the media by a third party who acquired it in violation of a state wiretapping statute. Under Bartnicki v. Vopper, which statement best describes the constitutional limitation on the newspaper's liability?
Bartnicki held that imposing liability on a lawful, innocent publisher of truthful matters of public concern violates the First Amendment unless the state demonstrates an interest of the highest order, even though the interceptor acted unlawfully.
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