The big event on Capitol Hill this week is the visit of Pope Francis. During his visit to the United States, he will travel to three cities: New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. While in Washington, he will become the first Pope ever to address a joint session of Congress. His speech will take place on
September 2015
OCR Plans to Move Ahead with HIPAA Audits, Reports Say
Recent news reports indicate that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning to move ahead with its plan to begin proactive HIPAA audits of business associates and covered entities.
In the past, OCR has relied primarily on self-reports of breaches from covered entities (as required…
Start With Security: Key Takeaways from the FTC’s Data Security Conference
By Lindsey Tonsager and Megan Rodgers
The FTC held its “Start with Security” conference in San Francisco, California, last week, launching an initiative to provide companies with practical resources for implementing effective data security strategies.
The event was targeted at tech start-ups and small- and medium-sized businesses, but the panelists included representatives from companies with…
Following TCPA Omnibus Order, Court Reaffirms Prior Ruling in Dismissing TCPA Text Message Lawsuit Against AOL
By Eric Bosset & Caleb Skeath
In one of the first decisions evaluating Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claims under the FCC’s recent omnibus TCPA order, the Northern District of California dismissed a putative class action lawsuit alleging that AOL violated the TCPA when users of its Instant Messenger service (AIM) sent text messages to incorrect recipients. After the court dismissed…
UK Government Launches Cybersecurity Service for Healthcare Organizations
Earlier today, on the InsidePrivacy blog, our colleagues Mark Young and Phil Bradley-Schmieg posted a summary of the UK government’s announcement of a new national service providing expert cybersecurity advice to entities within the National Health Service (NHS) and the UK’s broader healthcare system. The project, called CareCERT (Care Computing Emergency Response Team), is aiming for…
Benefits and Barriers to Expanded U.S.-Cuba Trade
Proponents of increased U.S. trade with Cuba rightly point to the potential economic benefits to U.S. exporters, particularly in the food and agriculture sector, from greater trade. But achieving that potential may take more than the lifting of the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. A forthcoming study from the U.S. International Trade Commission promises a…
EU – US Umbrella Agreement about to be concluded: towards a transatlantic approach to data protection?
According to the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, the EU and the US have finalized the EU-US Umbrella Agreement (for the press release, see here; a reportedly near-final draft of the agreement can be read here). This is a remarkable breakthrough after the first calls for such an agreement…
Data Localization Requirements Through the Backdoor? Germany’s “Federal Cloud”, and New Criteria For the Use of Cloud Services by the German Federal Administration
In May 2015, reports about the German government’s plans to establish federal German cloud infrastructure (the “Bundes-Cloud”) raised concerns about the possible introduction of data localization requirements (preventing the storage and processing of data outside Germany). The criteria for the use of cloud services by Germany’s federal administration, which have recently been published, now give…
GAO Holds That Contractor’s Letters Are, In Fact, Agency-Level Protests
By sending a letter to the contracting officer, did I unwittingly file a pre-award, agency-level bid protest? That is a question a contractor might ask after reading Coulson Aviation (USA), Inc., B-411525 (Aug. 14, 2015), which reiterates the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (“GAO”) view that a contractor’s subjective intent is not determinative as to whether its…
General Court Makes Interim Order to Protect Confidentiality in Pari Pharma Transparency Case
Raj Gathani, a Trainee Solicitor in Covington’s London office, contributed to this post.
On 1 September 2015 the General Court issued an interim order in favour of Pari Pharma GmbH (“Pari”) to suspend the European Medicines Agency’s (“EMA”) decision to grant a third-party, Novartis Europharm Ltd (“Novartis”), access to certain documents prepared during the Marketing Authorisation…