App Developers Need to Pay Attention to the FTC’s New Direction on Health Privacy
On September 15, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) held an understatedly crucial open meeting, the third under the tenure of its new chairwoman, Lina Khan. During the meeting, FTC Commissioners voted 3-2 to adopt a policy statement affirming that health apps and connected devices that collect or use consumers’ health information must comply with the Health Breach Notification Rule. As a bit of background, the FTC originally implemented its Health Breach Notification Rule in September 2009, which [...]
Return of the M.A.C. (Mini AppCon) and Infrastructure Week
As you probably heard, virtual AppCon’21 returned in September, and this M.A.C. (Mini AppCon) focused on infrastructure and federal programs supporting broadband deployment. As a quick reminder, our first M.A.C. of 2021 covered all things connected health and pandemic response and M.A.C. 2 addressed issues around competition and standard-essential patents (SEPs). Those M.A.C.s took place earlier this year, and you can read all about them here. Infrastructure Week Americans depend on the internet to access healthcare services, education opportunities, and [...]
App Makers Tour of Europe – Italy
On 4 October, ACT | The App Association continued its App Makers Tour of Europe in Italy. Our webinar on the impact of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) brought together app developers, policymakers, and academics. The panellists discussed the realities of the Italian digital ecosystem and the particular implications of the DMA on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The panel was composed of: Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Francesco Ronchi, CEO and Founder of Synesthesia Mario Siragusa, [...]
Member Spotlight: The Roomies
Searching for a place to live is often stressful – especially when it comes to cohousing. Finding a room that you like, in a good location, and with roommates that you enjoy spending time with can be tough. That’s where The Roomies comes in – the Belgian cohousing site collects and displays all cohousing posts in Belgium in one spot! ‘Cohousing is a trendy way of living together where it is important that everyone feels at home. However, when I [...]
The Great Manipulation: Are Dark Patterns Leading Congress to Help its Biggest Targets?
Congress is once again focusing on how social media companies are possibly manipulating consumers thanks to a new cadre of serious documented consequences. So, it is especially frustrating that the most vocal policymakers seem to be coalescing around a solution to these problems that actually helps the business models that depend on social manipulation. To be clear, policymakers’ concerns are well founded, and we understand congressional leaders’ desire to act. But, far from cracking down on the business models that [...]
Event Recap: Can Injunctions be Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory?
Part one of the webinar series: A new framework for standard-essential patents (SEPs) On 27 September 2021, ACT | the App Association held the first in a series of public events covering fundamental standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing legal and policy issues that impact the ability of European small businesses to innovate and compete in internet of things (IoT) markets and will only increasingly do so. This inaugural event focused on injunctions and explored whether this legal measure constitutes a part [...]