Privacy and Security Matters Blog - Privacy and Security Information

If your company transfers personal data cross-border and you participate in the Safe Harbor program, it’s time to check the status of your certification. For the second time in a month, the Federal Trade Commission has announced enforcement actions against companies under Safe Harbor, the international privacy framework that provides a means for U.S. companies to transfer data from the European Union to the United States in keeping with EU and U.S. law.In September, the first ever Safe Harbor enforcement action was announced against a California company, Balls of Kryptonite, which had falsely represented that it had self-certified to the... More

BREAKING NEWS: The Federal Trade Commission has again extended the enforcement deadline for the Red Flags Rule, according to an agency press release. Creditors and financial institutions now have until November 1, 2009 to come into compliance with the rule, which was mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Meanwhile, the commission will redouble efforts to educate businesses affected by the rule on what they must do to comply. The Red Flags Rule requires entities to implement programs for identifying, detecting and responding to harbingers of identity theft, or "red flags."   Hospitals and retailers had... More

There is increased activity at the Federal Trade Commission on the consumer protection front. David Vladeck, the FTC's new director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection is wasting no time in getting down to business. With less than a month on the job, Vladeck announced two major enforcement actions: one involving a nationwide crackdown against scammers, and the other resulting in a $3.7 million penalty for CAN-SPAM violations.Mintz Levin colleague Farrah Short writes that "Director Vladeck was named to the position in April and began his new role in June, after a handful of consumer watchdog groups called for the... More