EPIC has urged the FTC to launch an investigation of Pokemon GO and the app's developer Niantic. When the augmented-reality app was first released, Niantic granted itself "full access" to users' Google accounts in violation of federal privacy law. Even after recent changes, the company continues to collect detailed location history and has access to smartphone cameras. Pokemon GO "raises complex and novel privacy issues that require close FTC scrutiny," EPIC told the Commission. Senator Al Franken recently sent a letter to the company asking for clarification on the scope and purpose of its data collection. Niantic has close ties to Google and its CEO oversaw Google's controversial Street View project, which was found to collect private wifi data transmissions.
EPIC has filed an amicus brief urging a federal appeals court to protect a consumer’s ability to sue companies that fail to protect their personal information. A group of consumers sued a grocery chain after faulty security practices left their credit card information exposed to hackers. A lower court dismissed the privacy case because consumers had not yet suffered from fraudulent transactions. In its brief, EPIC explained that the court misunderstood the relevant law, confusing the legal obligations of companies to maintain good security with the harm that consumers eventually suffer. For the purposes of filing a lawsuit, EPIC said courts should focus on whether companies have violated a legal obligation such as safeguarding personal data, including credit card information. EPIC regularly files briefs defending consumer privacy.
A federal appeals court has ruled that a Texas voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act. In a fractured opinion, the court held that Senate Bill 14 had a “discriminatory effect” on minorities’ voting rights, and remanded the case to the lower court. The appeals court instructed the district court to provide interim relief for individuals, which could include suspending the voter ID requirement, ahead of the November 2016 election. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that SB 14 also places an unconstitutional burden on voters’ rights to informational privacy because of the excessive collection of personal data.
