Individuals who serve as a fiduciaries to their company’s retirement plan often feel they may not be sufficiently informed or qualified to make prudent decisions for the plan. They might ask themselves: “How do I know which are prudent investments?” or “What amount of plan fees are ‘reasonable’”? Now, the DOL is requiring plan fiduciaries
DOL Has Started to Audit Compliance with Its Cybersecurity Guidelines
In April, we posted about the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issuing cybersecurity guidance for employee retirement plans. That is, April 14, 2021. Shortly thereafter, the DOL updated its audit inquiries to include probing questions for plan fiduciaries about their compliance with “hot off the press” agency guidelines.
So, what
The “New” EU Standard Contractual Clauses: FAQs for U.S. Organizations
Globalization, compliance, and the growth in outsourcing have created a myriad of cross-border data transfer scenarios. These scenarios include marketing to and servicing customers, assessing global compliance with diversity and including goals, and outsourcing back office business functions. However, the emergence of far reaching data privacy regulation, such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation
Supreme Court Weighs in on School Regulation of Students’ Social Media Speech
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a Pennsylvania school district went too far when it suspended a student from participation in the school’s cheerleading squad based on “vulgar” comments made about the coach on the student’s personal social media account. In an 8-1 decision, the high court emphasized that while schools have some
City of Baltimore May Criminalize the Use of Facial Recognition Technologies by Businesses
The Baltimore City Council recently passed an ordinance, in a vote of 13-2, barring the use of facial recognition technology by city residents, businesses, and most of the city government (excluding the city police department) until December 2022. Council Bill 21-0001 prohibits persons from “obtaining, retaining, accessing, or using certain face surveillance technology or any
Musings of Retirement Plan Fiduciaries on Cybersecurity: Episode One
By now, plan fiduciaries and their service providers likely have heard about the DOL’s cybersecurity guidance. The Department of Labor’s stepping into cybersecurity in this way – a posting of best practices on the agency’s website – has left plan fiduciaries with some questions. Here are a few:
- “When is this effective?”
- “Does this
Texas Joins Other States with New Texas Data Breach Notification Requirement: Is This a New Trend?
The Texas Legislature, which meets every other year, pushed a change to its data breach notification law at the end of the session in late May, and yesterday Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law. It follows a growing trend of changes to privacy and cybersecurity laws at the state level.
Texas House Bill
Connecticut on its Way to an Enhanced Data Breach Notification Law
UPDATE: On June 16, Gov. Ned Lamont signed HB 5310 into law which becomes effective October 1, 2021.
State legislatures across the nation are prioritizing privacy and security matters, and Connecticut is no exception. This week, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the passage of An Act Concerning Data Privacy Breaches, a measure that
Supreme Court Adopts Narrow Interpretation of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq., does not prohibit improper use of computer information to which an individual has authorized access. Rather, the law prohibits obtaining information from areas of a computer, such as files, folders,
NY Attorney General Announces Settlement After Website Data Breach
In late May, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a $200,000 settlement agreement with Filters Fast, an online water filtration retailer, stemming from a 2019 data breach compromising the personal information of over 300,000 consumers across the U.S., including nearly 17,000 in New York state. The settlement also requires the online retailer to strengthen