June 2015

Pursuant to Executive Order 13,556 and as forecasted in the draft of the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (“NIST”) Special Publication (“SP”) 800-171, the National Archives and Record Administration (“NARA”) released on May 8, 2015 a proposed rule addressing the government-wide designation and safeguarding of Controlled Unclassified Information[1] (“CUI”) (“the Proposed CUI…

Company communications with government authorities about potential criminal activity or wrongdoing by the company’s employees may expose that company to liability for defamation; that is, unless those communications are considered privileged.  In the majority of states, communications with police or prosecutors are afforded “qualified” or “conditional” privilege, and generally may be the basis of a…

As expected, today the European Commission announced the reshuffle of much of its senior management, moving 11 current Directors-General (i.e. the technocratic heads of the Commission’s 30+ departments, called “Directorates-General”) into new posts from September 1 onwards. The selection process began in March when Commissioners identified three senior managers they would like to see as…

Today, the first meeting between the European Parliament (“EP”), the Council and the Commission (called “trilogue”) took place with the aim of reaching an agreement on the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) by the end of the year.  (For background, please see our previous InsidePrivacy post on the Council’s recently agreed general approach.)  The three…

Considerable attention has been paid to the recent signing of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) which will bind three of Africa’s regional economic communities (RECs) together into one large free trade market of 26 countries, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the continent’s GDP.  How significant the Agreement will prove to be lies in…

On June 18, 2015, the Canadian Parliament passed the Digital Privacy Act (DPA), Senate Bill S-4, into law.  The DPA amends Canada’s federal data protection statute, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in important respects, including introducing a new data breach notification requirement (which is not yet in force) and making other…

Europe is stepping up enforcement of its climate change rules against foreign airlines.  Recently, a Belgian authority competent for the enforcement of the EU Emissions Trading System (“ETS”) on airlines flying to and from Brussels, collected a fine of €1.4 million.  The fine was imposed on Saudi Arabian Airlines for failing to surrender emission allowances. …

On June 17, 2015, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) published a proposed rule to clarify how manufacturers should calculate the ceiling price for covered outpatient drugs under the 340B program, and to provide for civil monetary penalties (CMPs) on manufacturers that “knowingly and intentionally” overcharge 340B covered entities.[1]  The ceiling price…