On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act which establishes new conditions for the recreational use of drones and immediately repealed the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. The FAA is currently evaluating the impact of this change and how the organization will implement these changes.

In addition to continuing

While meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump was given a soccer ball, symbolic of the 2018 World Cup played in Russia. Bloomberg has reported that the soccer ball contained a chip, known as near-field communication (NFC) tag, which can transmit information to nearby cellphones, presumably including Trump’s as well.

The chips can send

President Trump recently signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which is already making waves in the financial sector for its repeal of certain Dodd-Frank provisions that were passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Banks and other financial institutions should take note, however, that the Act also

At test sites in 10 states –Alaska, California, Florida, Nevada, North Dakota, North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, Virginia and Tennessee – the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) granted local-backed drone projects special licenses to test new ways of flying. At these test sites, drone package delivery and nighttime flights will be conducted, which are typically prohibited

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will now fund double the number of unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) integration projects as it previously has, due to a strong response from organizations and companies wishing to participate. The DOT’s UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) was set to launch five projects in the initial round, but

President Donald Trump has directed the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to launch an initiative which will safely test and validate advanced operations for drones in partnership with state and local governments in select jurisdictions. According to the DOT, the results of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program will be used to speed up the safe assimilation of drones into national airspace, which will in turn showcase the benefits of this emerging technology in the U.S. economy.
Continue Reading DOT Announces Drone Pilot Program to Encourage Local and National Collaboration

By Executive Order, the Trump Administration recently reversed an Obama Administration order aimed at protecting consumer’s personal information from use by their Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISPrior to the Trump’s EO, ISPs were required to get customer’s consent before using or selling their browsing habits, online shopping habits, financial information, etc. The reversal of Obama’s protection order has caused a resurgence of interest in VPN services. In theory, using a VPN service creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and the service provider, thus keeping your browsing habits and personal information private from your ISP. However, a paper published in early 2015 by researchers at Sapienza University of Rome and Queen Mary University of London, found that 11 of the 14 providers they tested leaked customer information.
Continue Reading Virtual Private Network (VPN) Providers: How Private Are They?

This year has been a busy year for education law in the area of data privacy. Educational institutions continue to be a rich target for hackers. Additionally, there were some important developments in the interpretation of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) as it applies to educational institutions.

  • In December, DeVry University Settled with the FTC for $100 million over allegations that it misled prospective students with ads that promised higher employment success and income upon graduation.
  • Also in December, UMass Amherst settled with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for $650,000 for HIPAA violations related to a malware infection that led to the release of names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, health insurance information, diagnoses, and procedure codes.
  • In November, a hacker gained access to 1,213 records of applicants to the University of Wisconsin Law School.
  • On September 14, 2016, the Department of Education (DOE) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” providing guidance on the application of FERPA to the disclosure of student medical records in the context of litigation.

Continue Reading Top Ten Education Developments, Breaches, and Settlements of 2016