Recently businesses and advertising trade groups wrote a letter to the California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to request delayed enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The letter cited the current health crisis as a result of COVID-19 and a state of national emergency as the … Continue Reading
On March 11, 2020, the California Attorney General released the second set of modifications to the draft California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations. This set of modifications contains deletions to language that was included in the February modifications to the regulations as well as some new language. Notable changes include the deletions of the “do … Continue Reading
The COVID-19 virus is having an unprecedented effect on all aspects of our daily lives, and has hit the educational system especially hard with forced closures and cancellations. Because educational institutions play such a vital role in our communities, the Department of Education (DOE) recently issued guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (Guidance) … Continue Reading
On March 5, 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law Senate Bill 110, “An act relating to data privacy and consumer protection,” which provides authority to develop a statewide data privacy inventory of the personally identifiable information (PII) that the state collects from and maintains of its citizens. According to the bill, the data … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requested an audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of Medicare Part D eligibility verification transactions (E1) transactions. The OIG recently released its report which found that the majority of the providers evaluated used E1 transactions for some inappropriate purpose other than to bill for a … Continue Reading
Washington legislators recently introduced the Washington Privacy Act (WPA). This legislation is a consumer-focused privacy law similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) but it also has some European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-like concepts. The WPA protects personal data in much the same way as the CCPA, but with some significant differences. … Continue Reading
On February 10, 2020, the California Attorney General’s Office released modified California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations. There are some notable differences in the regulations from the first draft, which can be seen in this redlined version. This article will highlight some of the new language added in the latest draft of the regulations. What’s … Continue Reading
California has a privacy law that took effect on January 1, 2020, and it’s not the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This new privacy law regulates Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices. SB 327 was enacted in 2018 and became effective on January 1, 2020. The California IoT law requires manufacturers of connected devices to equip … Continue Reading
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said last week that “knowledge is power, and in today’s world knowledge is derived from data. When it comes to your own data, you should be in control…” These words came in an Advisory highlighting California consumers’ rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The Advisory outlined several areas … Continue Reading
After much anticipation and trepidation, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) went into effect on January 1, 2020. Many companies are understandably still grappling with the details of the law, the amendments, and the proposed regulations and how to comply with them. If you have not determined whether the CCPA applies to your company, and … Continue Reading
Last week, Veritas Genetics, a consumer-facing DNA testing company, suffered a security breach affecting customer information in its database. Veritas offers whole-genome sequencing to consumers for $599. The security incident affected its customer portal, which Veritas said does not contain genetic data, DNA test results or health records. How did that information remain protected from … Continue Reading
More than a year ago, in April 2018, police announced that they had used a new investigative technique to arrest a man known as the Golden State Killer. For the first time, the police submitted DNA from a crime scene into a consumer DNA database, where the information in that database about distant relatives helped … Continue Reading
Would you hand over your smartphone, including your call history, text messages, photos, GPS locations, and browser history to your employer? To your significant other? How about to a random stranger? I’m guessing your answer is an overwhelming “No” to each of these questions. Stalkerware and stalking apps do just that. Both are spyware that … Continue Reading
Last week was a busy week for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as Attorney General Xavier Becerra released draft regulations on October 10 and Governor Newsom signed several pending CCPA amendments into law on October 11. The CCPA amendments clarified several important issues, including: employee information and business-to-business (B2B) communications are exempt from the … Continue Reading
While we’ve discussed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) at length, Nevada was busy amending its internet privacy law and in the process beat California’s deadline for the effective date by three months. Nevada’s SB 220 is effective as of October 1, 2019. This law prevents covered operators from selling individual’s personal information and allows … Continue Reading
Bloomberg Law reported this week that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra expects to issue draft regulations for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in October. Bloomberg reported that AG Becerra told reporters the regulations would be published next month. Businesses and consumers will then be able to submit public comments to the regulations. Bloomberg also reported … Continue Reading
The California legislature passed six amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that are on their way to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The Governor has until October 13, 2019, to act on the amendments. With the end of the legislative session on September 13, this means that should the Governor sign all the amendments, … Continue Reading
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released its draft Privacy Framework: A Tool for Improving Privacy through Enterprise Risk Management (Privacy Framework). What is the NIST Privacy Framework? First, let’s begin with what is NIST? NIST was founded in 1901 and is now part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. According to … Continue Reading
As readers of this blog know, data breaches in the health care industry are all too common. Healthcare organizations are an attractive target for hackers because of the nature and amount of personal information that they possess. Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that healthcare organizations have the highest costs associated with data breaches. They … Continue Reading
Based on an unprecedented number of college closures, along with complex demographic challenges showing continued reductions in the number of college-aged students, states are struggling to determine how to best protect both students and college employees. Currently, most states have been reactive, and have only taken action after a college has announced its intention to … Continue Reading
As of today, the only NFL team operating on game day without cash is the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz stadium. However, there is an emerging trend of cashless sporting events and the Super Bowl may be added to that list next year. Additionally, the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London, which will host NFL games, opened … Continue Reading
On June 3, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a fraud alert to notify consumers about genetic testing fraud schemes (the Alert). According to the OIG, fraudulent actors are using the provision of free genetic testing kits to obtain Medicare information from unwitting consumers, and then … Continue Reading
WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging app announced a hack and the exposure of a security flaw this week. The flaw injected malware onto users’ phones, potentially exposing their otherwise encrypted data and messages. WhatsApp allows users to instant message and make phone calls throughout the world. The app features described on its website include simple, … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, I pondered whether the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) is still a bit of a work in progress with the introduction of a proposed amendment. Recently, another amendment was proposed by Assembly Member Edwin Chau in the form of Assembly Bill 25. Assembly Bill 25 would exclude employees and … Continue Reading
