Last week, two Senators, Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding apps designed for children and whether they are in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), See 15 U.S.C. 6501 and regulations at 16 C.F.R. Part 312 et. seq.  The Senators stated that they are concerned that thousands of apps may “improperly track children and collect their personal information.” The Senators requested a response from the FTC by October 31. The letter also asked that the FTC “investigate whether these apps, and the advertising companies they work with, are in fact tracking children with persistent identifiers and collecting their personal information in violation of COPPA…”
Continue Reading Protecting the Privacy of Children Online – More Updates on COPPA

We all know that it is important to protect our Social Security number. But sometimes companies still try to use the last four digits of our Social Security numbers as identifiers or to verify identity in some way. The use of Social Security numbers began in 1936 long before computers, the internet, and identity theft

Students 16 and over who live in Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Hawaii, Nevada, Delaware and Rhode Island—you may be eligible to participate in a new cybersecurity skills program called CyberStart. You have to have access to the Internet and a computer to participate.

CyberStart is “a forward-thinking skills program designed to supply specialist cyber security education

I have the privilege of teaching the Privacy Law class at Roger Williams University School of Law (RWU). It is a required course for the school’s Joint Masters in Cybersecurity/Juris Doctor program, which is, to my knowledge, the only joint program offered by a university and law school in the U.S.

A recent statistic states

Governor Bruce Rauner signed several new provisions into law amending Illinois’ Personal Information Privacy Act, including health insurance and medical information into the definition of personal information that triggers notification in the event of a breach.

Health insurance information under the law includes an individual’s health insurance policy number or subscriber identification number as well