A judge in the Northern District of California recently agreed with the Seventh Circuit that the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) does not provide a private right of action premised solely on an allegedly unauthorized retention of information.  Plaintiffs sued Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (“SCEA”) and Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (“SNEI”) for alleged violations of…

On Thursday, the House voted on and passed two cybersecurity bills. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) (H.R. 3523), sponsored by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and more than a hundred other Congressmen, passed by a vote of 248-168. As previously discussed on this blog, CISPA would facilitate information sharing between private entities…

By Anna Kraus

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday that Phoenix Cardiac Surgery, P.C. (Phoenix) agreed to pay $100,000 and implement a corrective action plan to come into full compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).  HHS had been investigating the Arizona physician practice for…

The House of Representatives next week will consider legislation to counter online threats as part of what the House leadership has dubbed “Cybersecurity Week.” The House Homeland Security Committee approved the PRECISE Act on Wednesday. The committee adopted an amendment from the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Cal.), to remove provisions that would have required…

By Anna Kraus

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the long-awaited final rule implementing changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations mandated by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.  The OMB has up to…

On 1 April, 2012, the UK press reported that the UK Home Office is preparing to propose new legislative reform of the communications data monitoring law, in the Queen’s Speech in May.  The press reports, and the response from the Home Office on 3 April 2012, provided some further details on a programme that…

Earlier this week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, together with major U.S. wireless carriers and chiefs of police, announced a plan to develop databases that will allow consumers whose mobile devices have been stolen to render the devices inoperable on mobile networks.  The database will be created over the next eighteen months. 
Using the…