Security Bits and Bytes

By Cynthia J. Larose

A few items to wrap up/review privacy and security issues in 2009 and open up 2010:

Gonzalez Pleads Guilty in December 2009 - but this piece from Retail Research Systems explains why retailers should not be sanguine about data security: Privacy Risks for 2010

RFID in 2010: The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted this week to prohibit the implantation of tracking devices in humans without their written consent. The bill,also includes a provision banning the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to track consumers, and would require consumer notice for any goods implanted with an RFID tag. Furthermore, the bill would prohibit cloning of RFID-enabled debit and credit cards. The RFID 24-7 Newsletter highlights some additional trends to watch in 2010.

After Heartland - "Mere Compliance" with Standards Enough? Interesting article in Computerworld reports that nearly a year following the disclosure of a Heartland Payment Systems data breach affecting 130 million credit and debit card holders, the debate over the effectiveness of basic compliance continues to rage.

Federal Trade Commission - New COPPA Safe Harbor Guidelines? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week issued a call for public comment on a set of proposed guidelines to help businesses comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The proposed guidelines were submitted by iSafe, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting a safe online experience for children. If adopted by the FTC, the guidelines--designed to encourage better self regulation among Web sites targeting children under the age of 13, or sites that knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13--would constitute a safe harbor program under COPPA. The public comment period will last 45 days from January 6.

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    Cynthia J. Larose

    Member / Co-Chair, Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice

    Cynthia J. Larose is Chair of the firm's Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice, a Certified Information Privacy Professional-US (CIPP-US), and a Certified Information Privacy Professional-Europe (CIPP-E). She works with clients in various industries to develop comprehensive information security programs on the front end, and provides timely counsel when it becomes necessary to respond to a data breach.