Privacy & Cybersecurity

Interested parties and privacy professionals have all been anxiously awaiting how legislative activity would shake out before the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) is implemented January 1, 2020.  Now that the dust has settled inside the golden dome in Sacramento and the state legislature’s 2019 session has come to a close, we can see which bills passed and will be provided to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has until October 13th to either veto these bills or sign them into law. 

51 tech company CEOs today signed and sent an open letter to Congress asking for help to hold off and supersede the rising number of state privacy laws growing like weeds.   The letter was sent on behalf of the Business Roundtable, a group that has sent its own “Framework for Consumer Privacy Legislation” to Congress as a “jumpstart.”

In California's Senate session on September 5, AB 1130 was passed, which amends the state’s data breach notification law. The amendment would include passports, biometric data, and taxpayer and military identification numbers to the definition of “personal information” requiring notice under the breach notification law if breached.

Spurred by the rapid evolution of technology, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) decided unanimously to begin a review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) Rule. The review could upend compliance plans for many businesses with a digital footprint.

The California Legislature has returned from its summer recess and got right to work on the pending amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).   The Legislature has 30 days from today to send any amendments to the Governor’s desk for signature. 

As August recess gets underway for the House and the Senate, ML Strategies has prepared a summary of the status of this summer’s key cybersecurity issues. ML Strategies will continue to track these and other cybersecurity priorities before Congress and the Administration through August and beyond.

We know we told you yesterday about the Equifax settlement and how you could make a claim in connection with the breach. Well, consumers whose personal information was compromised in Equifax’s massive 2017 data breach are in for another surprise: they may not receive the entire $125 payout option initially offered following Equifax’s settlement agreement with the FTC.

According to the FTC, “Despite its failure to implement basic security measures, Equifax’s privacy policy at the time stated that it limited access to consumers’ personal information and implemented “reasonable physical, technical and procedural safeguards” to protect consumer data.” 

According to our CCPA Countdown Clock, we are 161 days and counting to the effective date of the California Consumer Privacy Act.   The Mintz Privacy team is deeply involved in working with clients on developing compliance programs and digging into customer data for inventory and mapping exercises.   If you’re not already doing that, our handy tip sheet outlines the very top level issues and may help to provide a broad overview.

There are reports that HHS plans to issue a proposed rule next month, which would again amend 42 CFR Part 2 (“Part 2”) and modify how the medical records of patients with substance abuse disorders are currently shared between providers. Part 2 amendments, especially amendments to align Part 2 with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), would be welcome news to the many stakeholders in the industry who have repeatedly voiced their concerns regarding the regulatory hurdles that surround the disclosure of drug and alcohol treatment records.

While the California Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”) is certainly one of the most important pieces of privacy legislation affecting many businesses today, we want to remind our readers of another California initiative that may affect their operations, which we are calling the “Disclose Your Bots” law.

Get ready:  October 1, 2019 is the new date for many U.S. businesses to begin providing consumers the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information.  While January 1, 2020 was the date upon which many businesses were prepared to provide notice of consumers’ right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information to comply with California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Nevada moved the goalpost last week and signed Nevada Senate Bill 220 (SB-220) into law, which requires many businesses to provide a similar opt-out, and becomes effective on October 1, 2019.

The adoption of connected medical devices and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has both enhanced the quality of patient care and increased the vulnerability of health care organizations. Sophisticated cyberattacks on hospitals and health systems threaten patient safety and impose substantial financial costs.

The California Consumer Privacy Act takes effect on January 1, 2020, but amendments are expected. In an article recently published by Bloomberg Law, Mintz attorneys Joshua Briones, Esteban Morales and Matthew Novian discuss the April 9 hearing on SB-561, a bill that would expand the private right of action and remove compliance opportunities for businesses, and explain why the bill should be closely watched.

Office Depot and its tech support provider, Support.com, proved to be anything but “supportive” after allegedly providing false malware scan results and conning customers into paying for repairs and technical services that, in many cases, they did not need.

Significant changes to the Massachusetts data breach notification law take effect on April 11, 2019.   You can view the amendment here.   If you haven’t looked at your written information security plan, or WISP, in a while, now’s the time to dust it off.  If you still haven’t gotten around to implementing one as required by 201 CMR 17 back in 2010, now’s the time to get going. 

On June 28, 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and then further amended it on September 23, 2018. CCPA breaks new state law privacy ground, and this post addresses some of the confusion surrounding the exemptions for health information.

We’ve now presented two webinars (links will be posted ICYMI) on the scope of the California Consumer Privacy Act, and have been talking with scores of clients about preparation and planning.   One of the most frequently asked questions is whether the CCPA really applies to employee personal data processe by employers for business purposes.   

Many employers maintain policies limiting their employees’ expectation of privacy in the workplace, including policies that eliminate any expectation of privacy when using company-issued electronic devices. While employers may think that having such a policy would protect them from invasion of privacy claims under the Fourth Amendment or state law, a recent federal court decision may cause employers to think otherwise. This post examines this decision and provides best practices for avoiding issues with employees’ privacy interests.

Despite the overall political uncertainty about Brexit, worries about a sudden stop to personal data transfers from the UK to the US are misplaced, deal or no deal.  There is, in fact, a plan, and it’s a reasonable, practical plan.