July 2011

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently approved a final rule broadening the scope of the CFTC’s financial privacy regulations under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) to include “swap dealers” and “major swap participants,” two types of entities created by and subject to regulation under Dodd-Frank.  GLBA requires financial institutions to, among other requirements, establish safeguards…

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) assumed certain powers and authorities set forth in Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  The CFPB is tasked with implementing and enforcing Federal consumer financial laws to ensure that consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services, and that…

On July 13, 2011, Connecticut adopted a law prohibiting certain employers from using employees’ or prospective employees’ credit report information in making employment or hiring decisions.  Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, and Maryland also have statutes that prohibit employers’ use of credit report information for employment purposes.  Other states currently considering similar legislation include California, New…

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released the long-awaited supplement to its authentication guidance, Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment.  The supplement represents the most current and authoritative guidance regarding data security in connection with online banking platforms. 
Here are a few highlights of the supplement:

  • Financial institutions should perform periodic risk assessments that

…

This week, Stanford Security Lab reported preliminary results from a platform it has been developing, a chief application of which is to detect various forms of third-party tracking in an automated manner.  According to researcher Jonathan Mayer’s release, which emphasizes that these are “preliminary findings from experimental software,” Stanford’s system has detected that over half…

On July 13, the Personal Data (Amendment) Bill 2011 was introduced to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council for final approval.  The Bill, which is designed to implement the recommendations of a April 2011 government report on privacy reform, aims to address a spate of recent concerns about the prevalence of direct marketing-related data sales and transfers…

w consents can be given over Bluetooth advertising boards;
consents for employee pictures to be posted to company intranets; 
consents regarding electronic health records and full body security scanners; and
consents given during the use of an online social network; among others.
Written partly in response to a Commission request, the Opinion will no doubt…