Privacy & Cybersecurity

It is easy to see networks all around us. The printers at the office, your child’s videogame, the food ordering app on your phone, the fitness band or smart watch on your wrist, the electricity grid for your city, the self-driving cars being tested on our roads, all rely at least in part on networked solutions. 

Two recent data breach incidents in the healthcare industry prove what readers of this blog have heard all too often: KNOW THY VENDORS.

On Friday, the heads of the Federal Trade Commission overruled the decision of the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) in In the Matter of LabMd., Inc. The FTC concluded that the ALJ had erred in dismissing the Commission’s case against a lab testing company LabMD and misapplied the unfairness standard. 

The certification forms for the new US-EU Privacy Shield Framework are now available online. What is not easily discernible in the workflow is the fee structure. One needs to refer back to the Federal Register's implementation notice, published July 22.

The Article 29 Working Party (WP29) has released a brief updated statement on the final form of the Privacy Shield adequacy decision and supporting annexes. WP29 is an important advisory group made up of representatives of each of the EU's national data protection authorities.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision that could have far reaching implications for the relationships between companies that provide online services, their customers or users, and third parties.

In a terse two-page order, Senior District Court Judge Paul Magnuson dismissed derivative claims brought against officers and directors of Target in connection with the 2013 holiday-season data breach.  

The EU Commission has formally adopted Privacy Shield and the US Department of Commerce will go live with a new Privacy Shield registration website on August 1. US companies that had been registered under Safe Harbor will need to complete a new internal review, self-certification and registration to take advantage of Privacy Shield.

The final version of Privacy Shield (which has not yet been officially published) passed the Article 31 Committee vote on July 8th and is being presented today to the LIBE committee of the European Parliament. LIBE’s vote is advisory, but it may provide some early indications as to how well Privacy Shield will survive anticipated legal attacks once it is formally adopted and implemented.

Not all the news coming out of Europe these days is about Brexit. In fact, the forces of unity and harmonization remain a top priority for European regulators hoping to combat digital security threats and create a safer and more secure environment for the entire online community.

According to several news reports, the Commission has sent a revised draft of the Privacy Shield adequacy decision to the Article 31 Committee. One tech industry news source, Ars Technica, has made available a purportedly leaked draft of the version of Privacy Shield that is being reviewed by the Article 31 Committee.

Colorado is the latest state to revisit, and expand upon, its laws pertaining to the use and protection of student data. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper recently signed into law House Bill 16-1423 (the “Bill”) designed to increase the transparency and security of personal information about students enrolled in Colorado’s public education system (K-12).

US companies and policy makers will no doubt spend a good chunk of the day today considering the possible implications for them of yesterday’s UK vote for Brexit. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, has issued a statement to calm the markets.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR)  recently issued a warning regarding vulnerabilities in third-party applications used by entities covered by HIPAA. The OCR warning applies generally to HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates. 

The number one threat to a company's information (personal or confidential) is still its own employees. Data security and privacy training are the first lines of defense against negligent employee behavior.

The Mintz Levin Privacy and Security team is pleased to welcome Brian H. Lam to our group of privacy and security professionals. Brian comes to Mintz with broad experience in data aggregation, network data security, and technology transactions - in particular, the role security infrastructure plays in both technology transactions and M&A transactions.

While it’s making few headlines, the European Commission is still working to finalize Privacy Shield, and it’s even possible that Privacy Shield will pass a key hurdle by the end of this month. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have issued the long-awaited final procedures for both Federal and Non-Federal Entities under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) (“Final Procedures”) that provide information on how DHS will implement CISA. 

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced (press release) that Practice Fusion, the largest cloud-based electronic health company in the United States, has agreed to settle FTC charges over deceptive practices involving the public disclosure of healthcare provider review information collected from consumers that included sensitive personal and medical information.

Sophisticated phishing scams and muscular hacking efforts continue to compromise personal and sensitive information held by insurers, hospital systems, and businesses large and small.