Article 29 Working Party on the EU-US Privacy Shield:
The EU’s Article 29 Working Party analyzed the final version of the Privacy Shield and issued a statement on July 26, 2016. What does this mean?
On February 29, 2016, the European Commission issued a draft adequacy decision reflecting the outcome of its negotiations with US authorities in relation to the Privacy Shield,… More
Are you looking for an introduction to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)? To find out when and how it’s going to impact you and your organization, listen to this quick 10 minute podcast with, Deborah Hurley. Deborah is an adjunct professor of the practice of computer science at Brown University, fellow at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, and principal at Hurley Consulting.… More
In Case You Missed It: U.S. Major party platforms address cybersecurity. The two major parties have released their 2016 election platforms, both of which include cybersecurity planks. The Republican platform’s perspective of cybersecurity is an element of national security and international relations. The platform called for harsh responses to cyber-attacks against American businesses, institutions, and government, applauded the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, and pledged to “explore the possibility of a free market for Cyber-Insurance.” The Democratic platform is largely as a continuation of President Obama’s cybersecurity policies.… More
On July 11, 2016, the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released guidance on HIPAA covered entities’ responsibilities in a ransomware attack, a type of cyber-attack that has targeted the health care sector extensively in recent months. This guidance comes in the wake of a June 20, 2016 “Dear Colleague” letter from HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell highlighting ransomware issues. The most notable of OCR’s statements is that ransomware attacks often constitute breaches subject to the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.… More
In Case You Missed It: Court certifies class in suit against Apple. On July 15, 2016, U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar certified a class of users of the mobile app Path, who allege that Apple facilitated the app’s access their contacts without their knowledge. In the same decision, Judge Tigar denied certification to a proposed class of consumers who downloaded the app, but never had their contacts uploaded. … More
This post originally appeared in Law360. Written by Allison Grande. Edited by Philip Shea and Brian Baresch
The rapid rise of the hit smartphone game “Pokemon Go” has opened the developer of the app up to heavy scrutiny from regulators and users, who may end up wielding a variety of privacy and consumer protection laws to address concerns over the type and quantity of data being collected.… More
Key takeaways:
The Details:
Following the invalidation of the US-EU Safe Harbor by the European Court of Justice in the Schrems case,… More
The recently-released Pokémon Go has quickly emerged as a cultural phenomenon, with legions of players using their phones to “catch” Pokémon that emerge all around them, visible (thankfully) only to players. While catching Pokémon by phone is far less cumbersome than collecting boxes upon boxes of Pokémon cards, as some of us did in the early aughts, it does come with its own set of pitfalls. Specifically,… More
In Case You Missed It: The EU/US Privacy Shield is set to go into effect this Tuesday, July 13, pending a decision today by the EU’s College of Commissioners. On Friday, July 8, the Privacy Shield agreement (entered into in February) was adopted by EU member states. EU/US data transfer has been in limbo ever since the erstwhile Safe Harbor was invalided by the European Court of Justice last year. … More
In Case You Missed It: Ruling in FTC v. Amazon Suggests a Way Forward for Companies Responding to Actions Brought by the FTC after a Data Breach. The FTC’s recent actions in the realm of data security have been predicated on its claim of statutory authority to seek injunctive relief for the failure to maintain reasonable and appropriate data security practices. A U.S. District Court ruling last week casts some doubt on that authority. … More
Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (“CHCS”), a HIPAA business associate, has agreed to pay the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) $650,000 in connection with a data breach involving the nursing homes to which it provides management and IT services.
The underlying breach occurred in February 2014 (which suggests a significant backlog at OCR in resolving open matters). … More
A cross-post from our colleagues contact Catherine M. Anderson and Kate Leonard of the firm’s Investment Management group, with the reminder that “[m]aintenance of critical operations and systems, and the protection, backup, and recovery of data in the event of a significant business disruption….” More