Confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses are customary in settlement agreements and severance contracts in the employment law context. These days, however, the temptation can be irresistible for disgruntled former employees to trash their former employer on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, on blogs, by text or e-mail or other electronic means.
September 2010
Data Privacy and Security Primer for Law Firms
A UK law firm may find itself subject to significant penalties following reports of a data breach affecting thousands of people. The recent 2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco devoted two sessions to the topic, specifically dealing with “cloud computing,” and the risks and ethical issues it raises for law firms. As data privacy and security risks…
Complimentary Webinar – Massachusetts Data Security Regulations: A Plan for Compliance
By Joseph J. Lazzarotti on
Beginning March 1, 2010, businesses will be required to safeguard from identity theft and other dangers personal information about Massachusetts residents under a “written information security program” or WISP. Similar requirements exist in other states around the country, although those requirements generally are not as comprehensive as those becoming effective in the Bay state.…
FTC Proposes Revised FCRA Notices
Posted in Background Checks
Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (pdf), the Federal Trade Commission has promulgated three notices (pdf): (i) A General Summary of Rights; (ii) A Notice to Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies; and (iii) A Notice to Users of Consumer Reports (such as employers). In late August, the FTC proposed revisions to the…
The Fundamentals of a Risk Assessment
The most frequent question we hear from clients who want to develop or tighten their data privacy and security policies and procedures: Where do we start?
In most cases, the first step for the group charged with this task is to understand the organization’s "information risk." This means, in short, examining what information the company has…