The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly forced companies to innovate and explore new ways of working across its workforce and client base. Some have decided to dive head first into implementing collaboration technologies such as Microsoft Teams. Afterall, it’s part of the Microsoft stack, so in theory such a decision doesn’t require a significant financial investment.

Jim Merrifield
Jim Merrifield is Robinson+Cole's Records & Information Governance Manager, a member of the Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team, and a non-attorney contributor to the Data Privacy + Security Insider blog. He has spent more than a decade helping organizations of all sizes, including law firms and Fortune 500 companies, develop and implement practical information governance strategies, policies, and best practices. He has authored numerous publications and frequently speaks on information governance and data privacy issues. Jim holds a bachelor degree in Legal Studies from Quinnipiac University and is a certified information governance professional (IGP).
GDPR Awareness Is On The Rise as Complaints Increase
The United Kingdom data privacy watchdog reports that the number of complaints received since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect three months ago has almost doubled. Under GDPR, anyone who believes their personal data has been misused can file a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, or ICO.
Legal Experts say GDPR…
A CIO Budget Playbook for 2018
It’s that time of the year again, budget season. A time when organizations set priorities on how to strategically spend their money in 2018. In the information technology (IT) world this can be a daunting task for any CIO.
According to Gartner, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and tools such as conversational platforms, digital twins and blockchain should be at the top of the list.
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Why Was Facebook Fined by AEPD?
Today, the Spanish data protection agency (AEPD) fined Facebook 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million USD) in connection with how the company collects personal data for advertising purposes. The AEPD said Facebook did not get properly informed consent from users before exploiting this data as well as kept this data longer than it’s useful purpose.
In…
5 Focus Areas in Preparation for GDPR Compliance
In less than 300 days, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect and forever change the privacy landscape. Leading industry organization, Gartner, Inc., predicts that more than 50 percent of companies affected by the GDPR will not be fully compliant. Of course, the affected companies will include both European and non-European companies. Bart Willemsen, research director at Gartner, says “Threats of hefty fines, as well as the increasingly empowered position of individual data subjects tilt business case for compliance and should cause decision makers to re-evaluate measures to safely process personal data.”
How can organizations prepare for the GDPR? Gartner recommends organizations focus on five high-priority areas:…
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Data Protection Laws Could Increase After Jio Data Break
Reliance Jio, an Indian telecom upstart, compromised the personal data of over 100 million customers. This has prompted a call for increased data protection laws in India.
At present, companies in India do not have to disclose data breaches to clients. Of course this is stark contrast to companies in the European Union, which have strict data protection laws.
Pranesh Prakash, policy director at a research organization, the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), said “this occurrence raises question of security and accountability. A rule to report a breach exists, but it is unenforceable. It says you’re not liable if you’re following reasonable security practices. What ‘reasonable’ means is not defined.”…
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DeepMind Deal with NHS Trust Reveals Privacy Concerns
Back in 2015, DeepMind, a Google company, signed a deal with the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust. The deal allowed DeepMind access to 1.6 million patients health information as well as the ability to develop an app called Streams. The Streams app focus was to monitor patients with kidney disease and alert the right clinician when a patient’s condition deteriorates.
However, it was discovered that the Streams app had access to other health information such as a patient with HIV and drug overdoses.
After a yearlong investigation, The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who is the U.K.’s data protection watchdog, found that the deal between the two parties failed to comply with the data protection law.
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Data Classification and Information Security are Intertwined
A recent report entitled “Information Strategy 2017”, published by the Information Coalition finds that information security remains a top priority for over 90 percent of organizations. Given that the number of data breach activity continues to rise, these finds are not very surprising.
What is surprising, however, is many organizations continue to increase their spend…
5 Information Governance Predictions for 2017
Information is every organization’s greatest asset. It makes up intellectual property, trade secrets and many other vital corporate assets. It’s how we in corporate America conduct business. With that said, governing and protecting that information is critical. Therefore, we expect information governance efforts to continue to rise in 2017.
Prediction #1 – Data Breaches will…
Box, OneDrive, a Combination—What’s Your Flavor?
The cloud-based file-sharing and collaboration business continues to grow, inspiring competition between two heavy weights: Microsoft and Box. Last week, Box announced over $100 million in third quarter revenue growth despite competing with Microsoft’s OneDrive file share for SharePoint.
Aaron Levie, Box CEO and co-founder, believes that “the need for Box is clear; today, business…