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Privacy
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May 23, 2013
Cyber Barrage On Utilities Unlikely To Stir Congress
A Tuesday report by two Democratic lawmakers reveals that several U.S. utilities are the target of “constant” cyberattacks, but while the report is aimed at spurring legislation requiring utilities to step up their security systems, lawyers say any potential bill could have a tough time gaining Republican support to pass out of Congress.
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May 23, 2013
FTC To Give Leeway On Kids' Privacy Rule, Ohlhausen Says
The Federal Trade Commission won't immediately begin enforcing its newly revised online privacy rule July 1, Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen told Law360 this week in an interview that highlighted her personal preference for tempering privacy enforcement actions with careful research and business education.
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May 23, 2013
SEC's 1st Proxy Firm Action Hints At New Compliance Focus
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first-ever suit against a proxy advisory firm Thursday may have targeted Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. for just a $300,000 fine, but attorneys say the move also sent a powerful compliance message to industry peers on protecting client voting data.
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May 23, 2013
House Dems Float Employee Social Media Privacy Bill
A pair of House Democrats on Wednesday unveiled the latest bill aimed at barring employers from demanding direct access to current and prospective employees’ password-protected accounts on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
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May 23, 2013
TCPA Damages Are Insurable, Ill. High Court Rules
Illinois’ highest court on Thursday ruled damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act are not punitive, making them insurable under Illinois law, in reviving a bid for coverage from Standard Mutual Insurance Co. for a $1.7 million settlement in an underlying TCPA class action.
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May 23, 2013
GOP Lawmakers Want Answers From DOJ Over AP Subpoenas
House Judiciary Committee Republicans on Wednesday pressed the Justice Department for answers about its controversial investigation into reporters at The Associated Press, asking whether the department had attempted to limit the scope of its subpoenas or exhausted all other investigative tools before requesting them.
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May 23, 2013
ISS Settles SEC Suit Alleging Proxy-Voting Data Breach
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., the nation’s largest proxy adviser firm, has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it failed to prevent an employee from selling confidential information about client votes, the agency said Thursday.
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May 23, 2013
US Should Sanction Foreign Cos. For IP Theft, Report Says
The U.S. response to the rampant theft of American intellectual property, especially by Chinese business and governmental entities, is inadequate, and new measures such as sanctions on foreign companies that use stolen IP are needed, a bipartisan commission said Wednesday.
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May 23, 2013
Coca-Cola Can't Flush TCPA Text Spam Action
A California federal judge on Wednesday rejected The Coca-Cola Co.'s bid to shut down a nationwide class action accusing it of text-spamming consumers, saying the complaint's lack of specific detail can be cleared up during discovery and is not grounds for dismissal.
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May 23, 2013
McDermott Nabs Bingham Privacy Vet For Boston Office
McDermott Will & Emery LLP has nabbed a data privacy and security attorney from Bingham McCutchen LLP to bolster the firm's growing global privacy and data protection affinity group in Boston, the firm said Thursday.
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May 22, 2013
9th Circ. Won't Revive BofA Debit Card Fee Suit
A proposed class of Bank of America NA customers failed Wednesday to revive their suit over the bank's service fees for payroll debit cards, after the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that the National Bank Act preempts the suit's state law fraud and unfair competition claims.
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May 22, 2013
2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Cab Drivers' Suit Over Use Of GPS Data
Second Circuit judges on Wednesday expressed skepticism about a class action aimed at blocking New York City’s use of GPS data in taxi-related prosecutions, questioning whether the case suffers from a technical problem.
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May 22, 2013
GOP Reps. Grill EEOC Chair On Criminal Check Guidance
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday pressed U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Jacqueline Berrien on why the agency had not given the public more opportunities to comment before updating its guidance on employers' use of criminal background checks.
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May 22, 2013
Ga. High Court Crushes Discovery Bid In Malpractice Case
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that the plaintiff in a medical malpractice action couldn't use the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to force WellStar Health System Inc. to turn over interview transcripts, saying they were attorney-client work product.
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May 22, 2013
Lucille Roberts Says 2nd Circ. Prohibits TCPA Class Suits
Women's fitness franchise Lucille Roberts Health Clubs Inc. asked a New York federal court to strip class allegations from a suit accusing it of text-spamming potential gym members on Wednesday, saying the Second Circuit has unequivocally barred such actions in the state.
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May 22, 2013
Twitter Debuts 2-Step Login Following High-Profile Hacks
Following a string of embarrassing and financially damaging hacks, Twitter Inc. on Wednesday joined Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc. as the latest tech giant to institute a voluntary two-step verification process to protect users’ account privacy.
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May 22, 2013
NLRB Poster Ruling Dooms Net Neutrality, Verizon Says
Verizon Inc. on Wednesday told the D.C. Circuit that its recent decision striking down a National Labor Relations Board rule compelling employers to display posters about workers' right to unionize should likewise prevent the Federal Communications Commission from applying its controversial net neutrality rules.
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May 22, 2013
Wash. Governor Signs Social Media Privacy Bill
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee signed a revised bill Tuesday banning employers or potential employers from requesting social media passwords of current or prospective employees, making Washington the eighth state to enact such legislation.
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May 22, 2013
Anti-War Journalists Demand Details Of FBI Surveillance
Two California journalists demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation turn over details of its “threat assessment” investigation of their online foreign policy magazine Antiwar.com on Tuesday, claiming the agency has ignored their Freedom of Information Act requests.
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May 22, 2013
NJ Judge Says Hertz Fax Spam Coverage Suit Belongs In Wis.
Whether a Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. affiliate must defend or indemnify a Hertz Corp. affiliate in a proposed class action alleging it sent thousands of unrequested faxes is an issue for a Wisconsin state court to decide, a New Jersey federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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Fla. Case Makes TCPA Compliance More Confusing Than Ever
While we have been patiently awaiting further guidance from the Federal Communications Commission on a wide array of pending petitions for declaratory rulings on such points as the definition of an autodialer, Mais v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau Inc. raises a question about whether such guidance will be binding on the courts, say Judy Harris of Reed Smith LLP and Robert Jackson of the Law Offices of Robert H. Jackson.
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What You Should Know About Data Protection In Mexico
The privacy notice guidelines required by Mexico's privacy law recently went into effect, and Mexico's Federal Institute of Access to Information has already imposed penalties on companies that have not complied. Companies operating in Mexico should immediately implement internal processes in order to prevent significant economic liabilities, says Javiera Medina of Littler Mendelson PC.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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FCC Ruling Provides TCPA Guidance For Courts
The Federal Communications Commission’s long-anticipated ruling in the Charvat v. Echostar and U.S. v. Dish Network LLP matter is significant because it confirms that companies that do not exercise undue levels of control over their telemarketers or their call centers will not be held liable when those third parties violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, say attorneys with Locke Lord LLP.
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Benefits For Cloud Providers Adhering To US-EU Safe Harbor
The U.S. Commerce Department recently concluded that the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor's flexibility can account for any potentially unique data protection issue that may be raised by cloud computing, which suggests the program's ongoing value to U.S.-based enterprises seeking to ensure adequate data protection of personal information processed from the EU, say attorneys with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.
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How To Physically Secure Electronic PHI
Increasingly sophisticated threats to information security, new regulatory requirements and ramped-up enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act are prompting many health care providers and other covered entities to revisit their security policies. As these policies are revisited, physical security should undoubtedly be part of the conversation, say attorneys with Epstein Becker & Green PC.
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E-Discovery In The Cloud: Who Can Get Your Data?
Many lawyers are asking whether placing electronically stored information in the cloud could inadvertently waive the attorney-client privilege and whether the government or a civil litigant could obtain ESI directly from a cloud service provider. In answering these questions, there are a number of aspects of the cloud worth considering, say Timothy Broas and Matthew Saxon of Winston & Strawn LLP.
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Cyber Risk Insurance May Cost More Than You Think
With companies and individuals steadily floating toward digital storage, insurers and insureds must note that the potential monetary loss for notifying of a data breach alone can be significant and review several factors that could expose the organization to financial difficulties, say attorneys with Zelle Hofmann Voebel & Mason LLP.
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Managing The Risks And Costs Of Production Of Private Info
While manual redaction of a few hundred or few thousand simple documents may be feasible and cost-effective in some instances, the time and costs involved with attempting redactions on a large scale are prohibitive and often offer little, if any, benefit to the resolution of the legal matter, say Anthony Diana and Therese Craparo of Mayer Brown LLP.
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Cloud Storage Providers May Be Subject To HIPAA
A recently issued rule by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services may unknowingly create significant liability and legal risk for many technology enterprises. A challenge under this rule is the risk that data storage providers may unknowingly receive protected health information from clients and become subject to penalties and enforcement actions, say attorneys with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.