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Scott is a consumer data and privacy specialist. He regularly defends against data breach lawsuits and class action claims asserted under federal and state consumer-protection statutes (FCRA, FDCPA, TCPA, UCC, UDAAP, RICO). Scott represents companies on an array of data privacy issues, including background screening, consumer reporting, data breaches, ransomware attacks, and related regulatory investigations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state attorneys general.

On August 11, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued guidance, titled “Authentication and Access to Financial Institution Services and Systems,” which provides financial institutions with examples of effective authentication and access risk management principles and practices for customers (both business and consumer), employees, and third parties accessing digital banking services and

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) provides federal immunity to website platforms from claims based on third-party content hosted on the website. 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1). Specifically, the statute provides that the provider of an “interactive computer service” cannot be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by “another information content

Today, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, holding that a concrete injury requires more than the existence of a risk of harm that never materializes. Accordingly, the vast majority of the absent class members who could not prove that allegedly inaccurate credit reports were disseminated to any third party

Joining the growing ranks of numerous district court opinions analyzing the effect of the Supreme Court’s 2020 severance of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) government-debt exception, a district court in Colorado has reasoned that the severance operates retroactively, while also recognizing the severe constitutional problems raised by that conclusion. The result is a holding

Yet another Seventh Circuit decision has affirmed that a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not, by itself, create an injury-in-fact sufficient for Article III standing. This time, however, two judges concurring in judgment voiced their belief that the circuit has gone too far in its interpretation of the Supreme Court’s

The Sixth Circuit recently confirmed student loan servicers, who begin servicing debts after default and resale, are not liable to borrowers under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because the servicers are not acting as “debt collectors.”

On March 25, in Willison v. Nelnet, Inc., the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for student

On March 11, U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) reintroduced a bill to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). H.R. 1645, the Protecting Consumer Access to Credit Act, would remove from a consumer’s credit report all paid, non-elective medical debt, and negative information judicially determined to have resulted from predatory lending or financial abuse.

A federal magistrate judge in the Northern District of California approved a class settlement of nearly $175,000 for an alleged violation of the FCRA’s stand-alone disclosure requirement. The class was comprised of over 1,000 job applicants who signed a standard form as part of their application, which included both a consumer report disclosure and a

2020 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigate an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Pepper is uniquely positioned to help its clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the compliance curve.

In this report, we share developments in 2020 on consumer class actions, background screening, bankruptcy,