Written by Bridget M. Rohde and Sara J. Crasson, CIPP/US When a person is arrested with a cell phone, law enforcement officers will likely want to search the phone’s contents. Today’s smart phones are a treasure trove of contacts, calendars, voice and text messages, e-mail, videos, photographs, internet use records, GPS and cell phone tower… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Subscribe to Uncategorized RSS FeedA heartfelt “thank you”
Posted in UncategorizedMintz Levin was founded in 1933 in Boston, and our largest office is located here. Since Monday evening, we have received countless expressions of concern and support from clients, colleagues and friends around the world. For that, we thank you. We also want to take this opportunity to cross-post from our Health Law Policy Matters blog… Continue Reading
Happy 2013 to Our Readers!
Posted in UncategorizedA Privacy New Year’s Resolution, perhaps?
To all our readers: Happy Holidays!
Posted in UncategorizedMay your holidays be merry and bright — from all of us at Mintz Levin
October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Posted in UncategorizedMintz Levin has two upcoming — free — events to help observe National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Click on the links below for registration information – October 18, 2012 — San Diego — The Era of Big Data — Governance, Risk and Compliance October 25, 2012 — Webinar — Data Privacy and Security Issues for the… Continue Reading
Friday Privacy Funny
Posted in UncategorizedNew York Enhances Employee and Consumer Privacy Rights Under its Social Security Number Protection Law
Posted in UncategorizedWritten for the Mintz Employment Matters Blog By Michael S. Arnold Four years ago, New York enacted a Social Security Number Protection Law, N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law, §399-dd, aimed at combating identity theft by requiring employers to better safeguard employee social security numbers in their possession. (Click here for our summary of the law). Now,… Continue Reading
Employers Beware: Is EEOC Joining the NLRB to Require that Employers Not Instruct Employees to Maintain the Confidentiality of an Ongoing Investigation of an Employee Complaint?
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by David Barmak Posted in the Mintz Employment Matters Blog Lorene Schaefer, a mediator, arbitrator and workplace investigator, has reported on the One Mediation blog that by a letter of August 3, 2012 the Buffalo, New York office of the EEOC notified an employer that the employer’s written policy warning employees who participate in… Continue Reading
Multi-Million Medicare Fraud and HIPAA Conviction: A Cautionary Tale
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by Kimberly J. Gold Posted to Health Law & Policy Matters The owner of a Long Island medical supply company was convicted last week on charges of a $10.7 million Medicare fraud and wrongful disclosure of private medical information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). (United States v. Michel, E.D.N.Y., No…. Continue Reading
Cybersecurity Act of 2012 Fails in Senate — ” A moment of disappointment…”
Posted in UncategorizedCNN reports that the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (SB 3414) has failed to pass the US Senate. A cloture vote failed by a vote of 42-46, mostly along party lines. Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the bill. “This is a moment of disappointment that I really cannot conceal,” Lieberman said after… Continue Reading
Court Rules on What is “Commercially Reasonable” Bank Security
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by Amy Malone Small business owners have new hope that they may be on the same footing as individuals when it comes to cybertheft from their bank accounts. The First Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court case over what is “commercially reasonable” under UCC Article 4A. Under Article 4A, banks bear… Continue Reading
Seen this morning……
Posted in UncategorizedOn my commute this morning, a “shrink wrapped” van was next to me in traffic, advertising its service. While the scanning of paper containing PII or other sensitive information is a great idea to eliminate one typical means of loss potential resulting in a reportable breach incident, the message on the van was …. well,… Continue Reading
OMB Extends Review Period for HIPAA/HITECH Omnibus Rule
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by: Dianne Bourque and Stephanie Willis The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced on Friday, June 22, 2012, that it has extended the review period for the highly-anticipated omnibus rule intended to update key definitions and enforcement provisions relating to the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As we noted in a previous post, the rule was originally… Continue Reading
Weekend Reading
Posted in UncategorizedHere is some weekend reading for those looking at e-discovery issues. Our colleagues, John Koss and Rebecca Diamond, have published an article in Bloomberg BNA – Digital Discovery and e-Evidence delving into deleted text messages in the Deepwater Horizon controversy. Read In the Slick of It: Will BP Go Down With an Employee Who Purportedly… Continue Reading
Facebook IPO and Disclosure of Cybersecurity and Privacy Risks
Posted in UncategorizedBloomberg Securities Law Report recently published an article authorized by Mintz Levin attorneys Adam Veness and Cynthia Larose analyzing the privacy and cybersecurity risks disclosed in the Facebook IPO, and offering some tips for practitioners. The Facebook IPO and Disclosure of Cybersecurity and Privacy Risks: Tips and Lessons for Practitioners
US Legislative Cybersecurity Update
Posted in Legislation, Privacy Regulation, Security, UncategorizedMonday, April 23, will begin Cyber Week, during which up to six different bills that focus on various aspects of cybersecurity may be considered on the House floor. The Rules Committee has not yet determined how the bills will be handled, but it is likely that the less controversial bills from the Committee on Science,… Continue Reading
Congratulations are in order —
Posted in UncategorizedAllow us to take a moment to congratulate one of our own. Mintz Levin colleague, Julia Siripurapu, has joined the ranks of certified privacy professionals! The CIPP credential is one of the best-recognized certifications in the “privacy world” and demonstrates Julia’s knowledge and proficiency with privacy-related matters. Congratulations on an honor well-deserved, Julia!… Continue Reading
Facebook speaks out on employers asking for — or requiring — passwords
Posted in UncategorizedFollowing up on our post yesterday on the disturbing practice of employers requesting — and sometimes requiring — both employees and prospective employees to hand over social networking passwords — Facebook has something to say about this. In a company blog post today, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan said, “This practice undermines the privacy… Continue Reading
Privacy and Security Bits and Bytes
Posted in UncategorizedThis has been a big week for privacy. Tuesday - An article in The New York Times by Charles Duhigg detailed just how much information companies collect and how they utilize predictive analytics to figure out what people want almost before they know they want it. (Registration may be required). How much of this is… Continue Reading
FCC Adopts Rules Requiring Written Consent for Telemarketing “Robocalls”
Posted in Privacy Regulation, UncategorizedWritten by Ernie Cooper The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has adopted new rules that require companies to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before calling them with prerecorded telemarketing “robocalls.” For the most part, the new robocall rules adopted by the FCC simply mirror similar rules adopted by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in… Continue Reading
Legislative Update – Cybersecurity
Posted in UncategorizedOur colleagues at ML Strategies have authored a Legislative Alert: As the 112th Congress gets underway, many continue to feel that partisan gridlock will block movement on significant legislation, leaving congressional activity to legislation that doesn’t require a heavy lift. However, in what many view as a surprising move, Congress appears ready to address one of… Continue Reading
Invasion of Personal Privacy Tort Comes to Canada
Posted in UncategorizedThanks to our guest columnist and our friends at Blakes – Written by Jacqueline D. Shinfield In a significant decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, (Jones v. Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32), the Court of Appeal recognized for the first time in the province of Ontario, a distinct right of action for invasion of personal privacy… Continue Reading
Comprehensive Data Protection Reform Proposal Released by European Commission
Posted in Data Breach Notification, European Union, Legislation, Privacy Regulation, UncategorizedInternational Data Protection and Privacy Day is Monday, January 28th. The European Commission certainly found a way to mark the day. After weeks of intense speculation, the European Commission has released its sweeping package of legislation to reform the Data Protection Directive. We are analyzing the entire legislative package, which includes a new regulation and a directive… Continue Reading
EU Comprehensive Data Protection Reform Announcement This Week (UPDATE)
Posted in UncategorizedUPDATED to add links to new information: New York Times reports today that the proposed new data protection framework could have serious implications for Internet companies trading in personal information (registration may be required to access story). The Financial Times reports that the new framework “worries business.” The announcement of the proposal for comprehensive reform… Continue Reading
