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In a contentious move, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently sued Kik Interactive Inc. for its Initial Coin Offering of $100 million, alleging it violated securities laws by not registering the offering with the SEC.

The SEC alleges that the fundraising of $100 million was illegal because it did not provide proper disclosures to…

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is the U.S. Treasury Department bureau charged with monitoring financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes.

Under FinCEN’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering regulations, money transmitters and other money service businesses are required to develop anti-money laundering/countering the financing of…

The “security principle” under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that organizations process personal data securely by means of “appropriate” technical and organizational measures. This month, the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued new guidance focused on two specific measures the ICO recommends that companies consider in complying with the GDPR security requirements: encryption and passwords.
Continue Reading UK Information Commissioner’s Office Issues Guidance on Use of Encryption and Passwords in Connection with GDPR

In a ten page letter that previews the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) priorities for 2018, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and transactions involving cryptocurrencies. This follows previous warnings by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and FINRA about the risks associated with investing in ICOs and virtual currencies, including Bitcoin. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton…

In the latest example of security risks attendant to initial coin offerings (ICOs), on August 21st the blockchain startup Enigma reported that online scammers used fake solicitations for an ICO presale to steal approximately $500,000 in ether (a virtual currency) from investors.

Enigma is a blockchain startup incubated at MIT Media Lab that is in the process of rolling out its first product, known as Catalyst. Catalyst is described as a platform providing data sets and developmental tools specifically geared for hedge funds focused on cryptocurrency markets. Enigma’s funding was to be derived, in part, from a planned a token sale on September 11, 2017, with a goal of raising $20 million worth of ether.  
Continue Reading Scammers Strike Enigma Initial Coin Offering

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.
Continue Reading DeepMind Deal with NHS Trust Reveals Privacy Concerns