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Yes, it’s time for the end-of-year blog post – a look back at interesting issues of 2018 and a look forward to what we see coming down the pike in the new year.

The Look Back

  • In the past year, blockchain buzz was everywhere. Although still early, blockchain has in fact began to show promise as a technology bringing efficiency and cost reduction to many business operations. In 2018, many industries tested the technology and started pilot programs with an eye to replacing or supplementing traditional client-server systems with a distributed ledger-based system. 2019 promises much more in the adoption of blockchain. For continuing coverage of some of the more novel issues that blockchain presents, subscribe to our Blockchain and the Law blog.
  • “Web scraping” (also known as spidering and crawling) remained at the forefront in 2018 as companies used scraping for purposes such as consumer-facing data aggregation, real-time e-commerce analytics (e.g., dynamic pricing strategies), competitive intelligence, user sentiment analysis, etc. 2018 produced many important scraping decisions in the courts, including those about CFAA liability and the intersection of scraping and software licensing, and we await the Ninth Circuit’s decision in the closely-watched hiQ appeal, which will hopefully address a number of important open issues presented by the practice.
  • Privacy and data security continued to be a hot-button boardroom issue this year. The GDPR became effective, and California passed major privacy legislation which will take effect in 2020. The almost daily announcement of data security breaches continues to spawn class action litigation, testing the principles of standing after Spokeo. The federal government has pushed multiple initiatives to improve the nation’s cyber defenses. The wave of litigation under the Illinois biometric privacy law (BIPA) against Illinois employers and businesses persisted in 2018, and the continued viability of such suits may hinge on an upcoming ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court, as well as the outcome in California courts regarding the BIPA actions against social media entities.  See our Privacy Law Blog for more discussion on 2018 privacy and data security developments.