On Wednesday, June 21, Foley Hoag hosted a NY CLE program “Privacy, Cyber Security and Data Protection 101: A Primer that Addresses New York’s New Mandatory CLE Requirements. You can access the materials and recording using the below links.
Monthly Archives: June 2023
Cyberattacks on the Energy Sector Continue to Rise
Cyberattacks on the energy sector have been rapidly growing since 2017, and we saw an all-time high of cyberattack events on the sector in 2022. The energy sector is particularly vulnerable due to these types of attacks due to the outdated and unsecured networks oftentimes used in the industry, as well as the increased use of distributed energy resources (“DER”), which creates more openings to attack and requires more resources to monitor and manage.… More
FTC Seeks to Send a Message about COPPA and Schools
In late May, the Federal Trade Commission sought an injunction in the Northern District of California against Edmodo, which has historically offered school districts a virtual classroom platform with tools for assignments, quizzes, and similar items. The FTC argues that Edmodo violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by failing to obtain parental consent to certain disclosures of children’s personal information.
As the FTC has long expressed in guidance,… More
Privacy and Security of Genetic Information: The FTC Is Putting Privacy and Security Promises of DNA Companies to the Test
In the FTC’s first case focused on the privacy and security of genetic information, the FTC alleges that San Francisco-based Vitagene, Inc. – now known as 1Health.io – failed to live up to its promises and unfairly changed material privacy terms without customers’ consent.
After consumers paid between $29 and $259, sent a saliva sample to Vitagene, and answered an online questionnaire about their health history,… More
If Your Password Is On This List, It’s Time to Change It
It’s been several years since I have written about password hygeine. I have been hoping that a better security solution would be widely adopted and while I hear rumors in that regard, passwords still reign supreme. So when I saw that the SafetyDetectives website had listed the 30 most common passwords, it seemed like a good time to revisit the topic. Their study found that “123456” and “password”… More
MA Sports Wagering Regulators Take Aim at Data Privacy
Following the March 2023 rollout of mobile sports wagering in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been hard at work promulgating the various regulations needed to oversee Massachusetts’ burgeoning sports wagering industry, which includes both brick-and-mortar locations as well as mobile apps. The quick pace of regulatory implementation following the sports wagering statute’s passage last August has found the Commission wanting to promulgate some more complex regulations after having had time to further consider them – among these are the currently-proposed regulations (page 14) on data privacy,… More