The deadline to comply with the GDPR’s complex and far ranging requirements is rapidly approaching. As your organization races to implement its compliance program before the May 25, 2018 effective date, questions and concerns are likely to arise. While there is no shortage of online guidance on the GDPR, finding answers to your specific questions … Continue Reading
The implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), with an effective date of May 25, 2018, is just around the corner, and with it will come pressure on the human resources (HR) department to update its approach to handling employee data. The GDPR significantly enhances employee rights in respect to control over … Continue Reading
Nary a week goes by without news of a data breach by a healthcare provider…while there are certainly a good number of breaches resulting from a breach of cybersecurity defenses or from the wrongful exploitation of system security weaknesses, there is still a risk to healthcare providers resulting from the internal operations of the healthcare … Continue Reading
There are only two states in the U.S. that have yet to enact data breach notification laws, but that may change in 2018. Several weeks ago, the South Dakota state legislature announced that a data breach notification bill (Senate Bill No. 62) was pending. Now, Alabama is following suit. On March 1st, the Alabama Senate … Continue Reading
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is fast approaching and U.S. organizations that control or process personal data of EU residents are likely subject to these new data protection requirements. Now is the time for U.S. employers to determine whether they are covered by the GDPR (see our blog post, Does the GDPR Apply to … Continue Reading
Most business owners are all too familiar with identity theft. What they might not be sufficiently aware of is the “Dark Web” where identity theft thieves buy and sell stolen personal information. The Dark Web Defined The Dark Web describes places on the internet not identified by traditional search engines. Although not all sites on … Continue Reading
Last week, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) issued a press release to remind covered entities of an upcoming deadline under the DFS cybersecurity regulations. The next deadline under the regulations is February 15, 2018 – by that date, any covered entities (hopefully, you know who you are) must submit a statement … Continue Reading
U.S. Customs searches have become increasingly invasive over the years. Pursuant to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operates under the “broad search exception”, which allows searches and seizures at international borders or an equivalent (e.g. international airports) without probable cause or a warrant. CBP’s searches are deemed “reasonable” … Continue Reading
This Sunday, January 28, is Data Privacy Day, which Congress recognized on Jan. 27, 2014, when it adopted S. Res. 337, supporting the designation. As noted by the National Cyber Security Alliance, Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008, an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Don’t … Continue Reading
Only two states in the United States lack data breach notification statutes, but that may change in 2018. If legislation pending in South Dakota passes, Alabama would be the only state without a data breach notification law. South Dakota Senate Bill No. 62 would create a breach notification requirement for any person or business conducting … Continue Reading
The United Kingdom High Court recently issued a landmark liability judgment against the supermarket, Morrisons, following a data breach caused by a rogue employee (Various Claimants v. WM Morrisons Supermarket [2017] EWHC3113 (QB]). Similar results have been reached in the U.S., but this is the first time the UK Court has addressed the issue of whether … Continue Reading
Physician practices and other health care providers respond to numerous requests for confidential patient information from patients and others. Mistakes made by employees fulfilling such requests for medical records or making similar disclosures can expose the practice to civil litigation. A recent decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court (Byrne v. Avery Center for Obstetrics and … Continue Reading
Citing to estimates in 2017 “more than 5.3 million North Carolinians were … affected by a data breach,” Attorney General Josh Stein and Rep. Jason Saine announced on January 8 proposed legislation aimed at protecting state residents from becoming victims of identity theft. To do so, the “Act to Strengthen Identity Theft Protections” (see fact … Continue Reading
With the continuing parade of high profile data security breaches, the concern U.S. organizations have about the security of their systems and data has been steadily growing. And rightly so. Almost every organization processes (collects, uses, stores, or transmits) individually identifiable data. Much of this data is personal data, including employee data, which brings heightened … Continue Reading
If you’ve been following the headlines, you know that a day doesn’t pass without a reference to the “GDPR”. On May 25, 2018, the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will take effect, marking the most significant change to European data privacy and security in over 20 years. Most multinational companies, and of … Continue Reading
In a ruling that may have significant impact on the recent wave of biometric privacy suits, an Illinois state appeals court held that plaintiffs must claim actual harm to be considered an “aggrieved person” covered by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), in a dispute arising from the alleged unlawful collection of fingerprints from a … Continue Reading
A data breach occurs in which an outside individual obtains your company’s employees’ W-2 forms including social security numbers, addresses, and salary information. As a result, your company notifies all affected employees, explains what occurred, and offers a complimentary two-year membership to a service that helps detect misuse of personal information. Is your company liable … Continue Reading
Primarily motivated by several recent massive data breaches, Senate Democrats recently introduced a bill geared toward protecting Americans’ personal information against cyber attacks and to ensure timely notification and protection when data is breached. The Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017 provides that companies that collect and hold data on at least 10,000 Americans would … Continue Reading
In Minnesota, 97% of the 25,226 allegations of elder abuse (neglect, physical abuse, unexplained serious injuries and thefts) in state-licensed senior facilities in 2016 were never investigated. This prompted Minnesota Governor, Mark Dayton, to announce plans last week to form a task force to find out why. As one might expect, Minnesota is not … Continue Reading
A recent report indicates that nearly 500,000 individual health records were breached in September 2017. This figure is taken from the 39 healthcare data breaches involving more than 500 records that were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights in September 2017. Healthcare providers suffered the most breaches with … Continue Reading
The United State Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Nosal v. United States, 16-1344, declining to weigh in on the scope of unauthorized access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The Ninth Circuit held in Nosal that David Nosal violated the CFAA by using his past assistant’s password to access his former employer’s … Continue Reading
As reported on our Global Immigration Blog, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a notice regarding scam email requests for I-9 information. According to USCIS, employers have received scam emails that appear to come from USCIS. These scam emails come from a fraudulent email address (news@uscis.gov) and the body of the email may contain USCIS and … Continue Reading
On November 2nd, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced his proposal of the SHIELD Act – Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act – a bill that would heighten data security requirements for companies and better protect New York residents from data breaches of their personal information. “It’s clear that New York’s … Continue Reading
The flood of massive data breaches – including, most recently, the Equifax breach that compromised the personal data of around 145 million U.S. consumers – has increased the pressure on Congress to pass sweeping federal data security and breach reporting legislation. While it’s difficult to project whether such legislation will be enacted in the near … Continue Reading
