Delaware's Workplace Privacy Act (H.B. 308) , died with the end of the legislative session. As readers know from my several prior posts, I won't exactly be mourning the loss. The Bill's companion legislation, H.B. 309, did survive, however, passed by the State Senate during its final session...
By Peter S. Vogel Laws around the world allow governments free access to data on the Cloud which may come as a surprise to many, but Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) facilitate cooperation across international boundaries. On May 23, 2012 Hogan Lovells published a White Paper entitled "...
By Peter S. Vogel At time when cybersecurity is headline news around the world, partisan politics in the U.S. Senate got in the way of new a cybersecurity bill which was different than a bill passed in the U.S. House last April. The New York Times reported that the most vocal opponent of the new cybersecurity...
By Paul McCormack What's new? Since our publication in March 2012, there has a been a number of updates in relation to the following jurisdictions: Belgium Cyprus France Greece Italy Malta The Netherlands, and Spain. Furthermore, on 7 June 2012, Article 29 Working...
By Peter S. Vogel Google confessed to U.K. officials that Google still has Street View unprotected wifi data collected before 2010 in spite claims that such data had been destroyed. On July 27, 2012 Peter Fleischer (Google's global privacy counsel) sent a letter to Steve Eckersley (head of enforcement...
On August 1, 2012, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed an amendment to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (P.A. 097-0875), which prohibits employers from requesting or requiring that employees or job applicants provide the employer with access to the employee's or applicant's social...
By Peter S. Vogel Daily news headlines regularly report lax, or no, security for cloud data. In the past few weeks two very high profile businesses reported cloud breaches - Apple's iCloud and Dropbox. It is no coincidence that my August column for eCommerce Times is entitled " The Cloud...
We recently wrote about the California law prohibiting retailers from asking for their customers' ZIP codes in credit card purchases . In one of the most striking examples of the fractured, decentralized approach to consumer privacy existing in the U.S., we note that another state, New Jersey, has...
By Timothy F. McCormack and Michelle M. McGeogh Beginning October 1, 2012, employees and job applicants' personal e-mail accounts, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Pinterest pages, and similar accounts will gain more protection from Maryland employers. Under the new law, employers in Maryland...
By Peter S. Vogel No warrant was required to track a drug dealer's GPS locations from cell phones since the defendant "did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data emanating from his cell phone that showed its location." On August 14, 2012 Justice John Rogers of the US...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Mealey's) The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 29 heard arguments on the ability of a group of respondents to challenge the constitutionality of a law that its opponents characterize as "dragnet surveillance" related to the power that it gives the executive branch of the government...
By Rene Siemens and David Beck , Attorneys, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP This commentary observes that the rising threat of cyber attacks and data breaches as well as the proliferation of data security and privacy laws have made it more important than ever for organizations that handle sensitive...
With social media pervading most aspects of society and business, are you up to date on the changes that it brings to the insurance industry? Download a complimentary white paper covering insurance implications of social media . Social media presents a whole new set of exposures and liabilities that...
Whether you "like" it or not, social media is changing the legal landscape of employee privacy rights at a rapid pace. On September 27, 2012, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB 1844 , which prohibits employers from requiring (or requesting) employees or applicants to divulge their...
By Sheila Millar, Tracy Marshall, and Crystal Skelton Excerpt: On December 19, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC" or "Commission") issued final rule amendments concluding its review of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") Rule ("final...
Hailing her state as the "epicenter of modern innovation," California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has issued recommendations for app developers and providers, advertising networks and others as part of an effort to give consumers "meaningful information" about privacy choices...
By David Bender The flood of recent articles disclosing that the National Security Agency has engaged in a massive acquisition of information concerning the telephone communications of millions of Americans has shocked many. While sensationalizing this acquisition, most articles avoid discussing whether...
By Robert C. Dewar Many foreign businesses commence trading in the U.S. without paying a lot of attention to their data privacy policies. Unlike the UK, where the Data Protection Act (which implements the European Data Protection Directive into UK law) applies to all businesses, the U.S. does not...
Today’s next-generation manufacturing is marked by speed and technology. However, technology can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, technological innovations and advancements have resulted in a manufacturing resurgence in the United States. On the other hand, technology also makes confidential...
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has released its long-awaited Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (Assessment) to help financial institutions identify the inherent risks faced by a company and determine the level of maturity of a company’s cybersecurity preparedness. The...
By Peter S. Vogel With the help of the financial services industry “the legal sector has launched its own cyber-threat intelligence-sharing mechanism” known as the Legal Services Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (LS-ISAO) Services. The August 2015 Darkreading article entitled...
By Peter S. Vogel The Mimecast Incident Report stated that the US Data Centers and disruption of millions of emails were caused by a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack on September 21 from “10:46 am EST – 5:32pm EST.” The September 25, 2015 Incident Report summarized the...
By Peter S. Vogel The volume of Ransomware is increasing dramatically after malware is downloaded by unsuspecting employees “encrypts a user or company’s files and forces them to pay a fee to the hacker in order to regain access to their own files.” KnowBe4 claims to be...
By Peter S. Vogel The NY Times reported that “regulators are looking at whether Google unfairly uses the software to promote its other dominant services.” The report entitled “ F.T.C. Is Said to Investigate Claims That Google Used Android to Promote Its Products ” is based...
By Shabbi S. Khan Cisco has estimated that there will be 50 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices connected to the Internet by the year 2020. IoT has been a buzzword over the past couple of years. However, the buzz surrounding IoT in the year 2015 has IoT enthusiasts particularly excited. This...