Hello! Privacy continues to make headlines, with regulators, lawmakers, and consumers paying closer attention to how personal information is collected, used, and protected. From major settlements and new privacy laws to growing concerns over AI, surveillance, and biometric data, the past few weeks have brought plenty of developments worth watching. We also we interviewed Richy Glassberg, the CEO of SafeGuard Privacy about performing vendor privacy due diligence. You can listen to this insightful episode here.
Here are some of the latest privacy news stories, proposed legislation, and upcoming events you should know about.
Table of Contents
What’s new in privacy?
Below are some of the most notable news in privacy from this month:
- California takes action against an Iowa-based company for privacy violations. The California Privacy Protection Agency Board issued a decision requiring LocateSmarter, LLC, an Iowa-based data broker, to pay a fine and change its practices. The company allegedly required Californians to provide the last four digits of their Social Security Numbers before they could opt out of the company’s sale of their personal information. Read more here.
- TikTok to pay $400 million in child privacy settlement. The settlement stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice alleging that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance collect vast amounts of data on millions of users under the age of 13 in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Read more here.
- Ring camera founder announces new privacy measures. The new privacy measures are being implemented as public concerns ramp up over security camera surveillance, the use of AI, and Flock surveillance. Watch the announcement here.
- Academy Mortgage agrees to $2 million data breach settlement. The settlement is in response to a proposed class action lawsuit, which alleged that the company failed to protect the personal information of 284,000 people that was exposed in a 2023 data breach. Learn more here.
- Most Americans worry about secretly being recorded by smart wearables. A recent survey found that 72% of Americans worry about being secretly recorded by camera-equipped wearables in public and only 20% of adults are very confident that they could recognize smart glasses with cameras. Learn more here.
- Walmart accused of collecting customers’ voiceprints. A group of shoppers recently filed a class action lawsuit in Illinois against Walmart alleging that Walmart creates a voiceprint or biometric identifier with an artificial intelligence system every time someone calls their customer service line. The lawsuit alleges that the shoppers did not consent to their biometric data being collected in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. Read more here.
- New Jersey enacts Kids Code Act. This bill was signed into law on August 11, 202 and will go into effect on September 1, 2027 and applies to businesses that offer online services in New Jersey that are reasonably likely to be accessed by a child or minor and that meet certain revenue or data processing thresholds. Learn more here.
- FTC seeking comments on proposed personalized price disclosure rules. The proposed rules would require new disclosures to be provided to consumers when the use of personal data and inferences set a price for products or services. The proposed rules would require businesses to disclose the fact that the price is personalized, the basis for the personalization, and the types of data used. Read more here.
- Meta reaches $16.68 billion settlement. Meta Platforms agreed to pay a maximum of $16.68 billion and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram. The settlement follows multiple lawsuits that alleged that the company designed these platforms to addict children, misled consumers about their safety, and collected children’s personal data. Read more here.
- Activist wins $300,000 by exposing Flock camera recording retention issues. The activist filed 53 public-record requests with cities and counties across Washington asking to produce image and data logs produced by automatic license plate reader cameras during a 30 minute period on a single day. The records were stored internally by Flock, causing some cities and counties to not be able to produce those records. Learn more here.
What privacy bills are we tracking?
As part of our service, we keep track of privacy bills that would affect the way Privacy Policies are written. Below is our most recent list of privacy bill proposals in the United States. You can access the privacy bill tracker any time on our blog.
- Alaska – AK HB367;
- Arizona – AZ SB1815;
- Illinois – IL SB52;
- Illinois – IL HB3041;
- Illinois – IL SB2875;
- Illinois – IL SB3220;
- Illinois – IL HB5221;
- Illinois – IL SB3548;
- Illinois – IL SB3890;
- Massachusetts – MA SB33;
- Massachusetts – MA SB301;
- Massachusetts – MA SB2619;
- Massachusetts – MA HB4746;
- Massachusetts – MA HB5479;
- Michigan – MI SB359;
- Minnesota – MN SB4666;
- New York – NY S4276;
- New York – NY AB5827;
- New York – NY AB974;
- New York – NY AB4947;
- New York – NY SB8524;
- North Carolina – NC – HB462;
- North Carolina – NC – SB757;
- North Carolina – NC – SB1022;
- Pennsylvania – PA HB78;
- Pennsylvania – PA SB112;
- Vermont – VT H812;
- Washington – WA HB1671;
- West Virginia – WV HB5123.
Events
Here are some great virtual events that you can attend to learn more about the hottest issues in privacy and meet other privacy professionals:
- CMMC: What Privacy and Governance Professionals Need to Know – September 2, 2026;
- Entering Privacy Episode 5: Beyond Compliance: Emerging Trends and Technologies – September 15, 2026;
- 2026 Artificial Intelligence and Robotics National Institute – October 12, 2026.
Conclusion
The privacy landscape isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With new laws being proposed, existing laws being enforced, and emerging technologies creating new privacy concerns, staying informed is becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes. We’ll continue tracking these developments and updating our privacy bill tracker as new legislation and guidance emerge.
P.S. don’t forget to check out our latest episodes of Privacy Lawls!
