A growing number of states have enacted laws this year to study artificial intelligence (AI), ahead of possible legislative action to address expected threats to jobs, civil liberties, and property rights with the emerging technology. The specific goals of these committees have varied. For instance, Minnesota is studying how intelligence sharing with AI might enable
Vermont
White House to Host Meeting on Data Brokering Industry as CFPB Promises New Regulations
The White House hosted a roundtable meeting Tuesday on the data brokering industry as a part of an administration-wide push toward strengthening America’s consumer privacy landscape. The meeting brought together researchers, regulators, and consumer advocates. The Biden-Harris Administration has called for stronger national regulations on data brokering, or the buying and selling of personal consumer…
ExecuPharm Data Stolen in Ransomware Attack Published on Internet
In a growing trend, pharmaceutical company ExecuPharm became the victim of a ransomware attack on March 13, 2020, by the CLOP ransomware group, which exfiltrated its data and then posted it on the Internet. Apparently, ExecuPharm didn’t pay the ransom, and then paid the price anyway by having its data compromised and posted by the…
Vermont Governor Signs Bill Requiring Data Privacy Inventory of Citizens’ PII
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…
Privacy Tip #220 – Identity Theft Still in Top Three Frauds Reported to FTC
Three million fraud cases were reported to the FTC in 2018, and 444,602 of them involved identity theft. These reported cases (just think of how high the statistic would be if all cases were reported) amounts to the third most common type of fraud reported to the FTC.
According to The Motley Fool, of…
States Race to Embrace Blockchain Technology
Add Connecticut, Ohio and Vermont to the list of states passing legislation focused on the potential disruptive impact of blockchain – the technology underlying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. As federal regulators continue to monitor and offer guidance in the cryptocurrency space, with particular focus on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), state legislatures around the country are…
Proposed Legislation in New York Would Recognize Enforceability of BlockChain Transactions and Explore Applications of Technology
While the investment potential of cryptocurrencies, including BitCoin, has been all over the news in recent weeks, state governments have begun to explore the practical applications of blockchain – the technology underlying BitCoin. In New York, Assemblyman Clyde Vanel introduced four bills in late November related to blockchain technology. The first, Assembly Bill 8780, would amend the state technology law to allow signatures, records and contracts secured through blockchain technology to be considered valid electronic records and signatures and further to recognize the legal validity of the use of smart contracts in commerce. This proposed legislation, recognizing legal effect to blockchain transactions and smart contracts, is similar to laws recently passed in other states, including Arizona, Nevada and Vermont.
Continue Reading Proposed Legislation in New York Would Recognize Enforceability of BlockChain Transactions and Explore Applications of Technology
Hilton Settles Data Breach Investigations with NY and VT AGs
Hilton Domestic Operating Co., Inc. (Hilton) has agreed to pay the New York and Vermont Attorneys General $700,000 to settle allegations that they violated those state consumer protection and data breach notification laws when it failed to implement reasonable security measures to protect consumer data and for waiting nine months to notify consumers of a…
Job Seekers Beware! Data Hacked for up to 1.4 Million Illinois Residents Receiving Unemployment Benefits
The Illinois Department of Employment Security has revealed that somewhere between 1.2 million and 1.4 million Illinois residents who have received unemployment benefits from the State of Illinois have had their names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers compromised through a hacking of its vendor’s database. The residents are those seeking jobs and using…
Feds identify security vulnerabilities in state healthcare exchange websites
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) examination of the state-run health insurance exchanges for California, Kentucky and Vermont identified inadequate security measures in place to protect consumers’ personal information. While state officials from Kentucky and California denied that any security breaches had occurred or that any personal data had been compromised as a result of the…