Declan McCullagh is always a good read – It’s been 10 years: Why won’t people pay for privacy? Politics and Law – CNET News
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Data Privacy Day – Tip #4 – Transactional Best Practices for Lawyers
Posted in Employee PrivacyWritten by Michael Arnold and Jennifer Rubin Even though lawyers working on both sides of an M&A transaction during the due diligence phase might immerse themselves in a “confidentiality bubble”, they still must be careful not to disclose or access confidential employee information in the course of that transaction. Attorneys evaluating potential transactions might be… Continue Reading
Data Privacy Day – Tip #3 – The weakest link??
Posted in Employee PrivacyMy lunchtime speaking engagement was at the International Association of Privacy Professional’s Boston KnowledgeNet. I had the pleasure to share the panel with Mike Spinney from Six-Weight (www.sixweight.com) and identity theft guru Robert Siciliano. We had a spirited discussion about privacy training and awareness. You can access their blogs in the panel to the right…. Continue Reading
Happy Data Privacy Day! Post #3 – Cable/Online Behavioral Advertising Issues
Posted in Online AdvertisingEarlier this week, Mintz Levin’s Chris Harvie, a Member in the Communications section, spoke at the PLI Broadband and Cable Industry Law Seminar in New York City. Chris provided an overview of the cable privacy provisions found in Title VI of the Communications Act and discussed the restrictions and obligations that apply to the collection… Continue Reading
Data Privacy Day Tip #2 – HITECH Act
Posted in LegislationWritten by Dianne BourqueEffective February 17, 2010, significant new compliance obligations will be imposed on business associates through the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”). Business associates (or organizations that use or disclose protected health information on behalf of covered entities subject to HIPAA) will be directly liable for… Continue Reading
Happy Data Privacy Day! Tip #1
Posted in Data Compliance & SecurityToday is worldwide Data Privacy Day. What is your company doing to promote data privacy and security in your enterprise? I’ll be participating in a KnowledgeNet in Boston, sponsored by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. The discussion topic is Privacy Awareness and Training. And don’t forget, the March 1 deadline for compliance with the… Continue Reading
Connecticut Attorney General Brings Charges Against Health Net for HIPAA Violations
Posted in Data BreachWritten by Dianne Bourque On January 13, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed charges against Health Net of Connecticut, Inc., for violating federal privacy law. Blumenthal is the first state attorney general to file such a suit using HIPAA enforcement authority granted to states under the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment… Continue Reading
New Settlement Agreement in Heartland Breach
Posted in Data BreachAnd the cash register continues to ring with respect to the Heartland Payment Systems Inc. breach. Heartland disclosed last week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has agreed to pay a maximum of $60 million to Visa Inc. and Visa card-issuing banks to settle claims arising out of the massive… Continue Reading
Security Bits and Bytes
Posted in Data BreachA few items to wrap up/review privacy and security issues in 2009 and open up 2010: Gonzalez Pleads Guilty in December 2009 – but this piece from Retail Research Systems explains why retailers should not be sanguine about data security: Privacy Risks for 2010 RFID in 2010: The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted this… Continue Reading
Maine – New Year, New Legislative Session, New Version of the Marketing to ‘Tweens Law
Posted in LegislationAs promised last year, the Maine legislative session opened this week with the introduction of a new predatory marketing bill–LD 1677. This bill would repeal the beleaguered LD 1883, which was signed to law last year, but faced major opposition from industry groups, leading Maine’s attorney general to promise not to enforce the law. The… Continue Reading
Happy 2010 – Data Breach du Jour
Posted in Data BreachWe are just barely into the new year, and there is already a rather large data breach to report. Officials at Eastern Washington University (EWU) are notifying up to 130,000 current and former students that their personal information may have been exposed in a security breach, reports the Seattle Times. The data involved includes names,… Continue Reading
New Regulations Propose a Definition of ‘Meaningful Use’
Posted in LegislationWritten by Dianne On December 30, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued interim final rules necessary to implement electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The ONC rule sets initial… Continue Reading
Happy New Year – New Health Care Reform Issues
Posted in LegislationNow that it is 2010, we will be getting back up to speed with our blog postings, bringing you the latest in the world of privacy and security information. The world of health care reform also has significant impact on all of us, and my colleagues here at Mintz published an important advisory right at… Continue Reading
