Computer Privacy

Whether it’s the credit card number used in an online purchase, a medical history, a college application, the list of the websites you’ve visited in the last month, or your e-mail or home address, your personal data is being collected and stored every time you sit down at a computer or use your smart phone.

As information technology improves, more and more companies center their business models around tracking, accumulating, and storing some of your most sensitive personal information. Often, websites you visit or programs you install actually scan your computer or phone and transmit data back to a company’s servers, all without your knowledge. Similarly, businesses who have developed web sites and phone “apps,” marketed to children to appear like games, whose sole purpose is to gather information on the children who use them. An entire industry, called “data brokers,” has sprung up that does nothing but collect, analyze, and sell the personal information of consumers.

Beyond invading your privacy, or your children’s privacy, by surreptitiously gathering your information, many of these companies provide little to no protection once they actually have your data in their possession. Every day, scores of “data breaches” are reported in the news, in which criminals take advantage of an entity’s lax cyber security measures and make off with the personal records of countless people. For the victims, this can result in dramatically increased threats of serious crimes ranging from identity theft to stalking.

The frontiers of data privacy are expanding at a lightning pace. An increasing number of companies make your personal information a prerequisite for online transactions, and creative hackers continue to find new ways to subvert existing web sequrity measures. Federal and state lawmakers have had a difficult time keeping up, and so businesses are rarely held accountable for their wrongful acts. Carney Bates & Pulliam is committed to being an advocate for consumers whose privacy has been invaded, whose data has been secretly gathered and sold, and who have been put at risk by substandard data security practices.

Contact us to learn more

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If you would like to learn more about our data privacy litigation group, or if you have a claim you would like us to investigate, we invite you to contact us at info@cbplaw.com or call our offices at (888) 551-9944.