On April 27, the House of Representative unanimously passed the Email Privacy Act. As previously reported, the proposed changes would strengthen the privacy protections for email and other cloud-storage services by closing a loophole that allowed law enforcement to access older data without obtaining a warrant.
However, while there is widespread support to require…
In a blog post published on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website, Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, recently stated that:
“we regard data as ‘personally identifiable,’ and thus warranting privacy protections, when it can be reasonably linked to a particular person, computer, or device. In many cases, persistent identifiers such as device…
When the dust settles on 2016, and Congress is receiving year-end grades from political pundits, voters and even self-evaluations from the Members themselves, there will no doubt be a common refrain that election year politics, gridlock and a short legislative calendar have yet again left too many important issues unresolved. But one important piece of…
Verizon recently released its 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report (“DBIR”) that outlines cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and trends from 2015. Verizon, with the assistance of more than 60 contributors, analyzed over 64,000 information security incidents (security events that affect the integrity of an information system) and 2,200 data breaches (incidents that result in the “confirmed disclosure…
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a public meeting on May 18-19, 2016 to “discuss and debate Voluntary Standards for Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAOs) as they relate to” Executive Order 13691 (EO 13691). See 81 Fed. Reg. 23506. This meeting follows the recent passage of the Cybersecurity Act…
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been busy. In addition to its recent efforts to begin audits of covered entities and business associates, OCR has announced a slew of enforcement actions against covered entities for alleged HIPAA violations.…
In a recent interview, Executive Director of the Nairobi-based United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Dr. Joan Clos stated that “urbanization will be a big opportunity for Africa in the coming years.” It comes as no surprise that harnessing the potential of Africa’s urbanization will be a top agenda item at Habitat III, the…
Phase 2 HIPAA Audits Underway
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has begun its effort to audit covered entities and business associates for compliance with HIPAA. We have previously reported on OCR’s preparations for these proactive audits.…
By Kristof Van Quathem
Yesterday, the European Commission launched its “Digitising European Industry” package, a series of industry related initiatives aimed at “updating Europe’s digital infrastructure”, see press release here, Q&A here and homepage here. The package includes reports and proposals addressing cloud computing, ICT standardization, eGovernment, Internet of Things (“IoT”), quantum technologies…
On Monday, April 18th, the Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) and the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) reopened the comment period for their proposed rule “340B Drug Pricing Program Ceiling Price and Manufacturer Civil Monetary Penalties Regulation” (“Proposed Rule”). Originally issued on June 17, 2015, the Proposed Rule sought to implement the…
