Join us this month as our Privacy and Cybersecurity team will discuss medical device cybersecurity preparedness and response, employee monitoring, IoT’s impact on health care, and key legal and compliance issues for insider threat programs.
Tag Archives: data security
Why Companies in Mexico Should Reassess Their Compliance with Data Privacy Protocols—and Their Risk of a Data Breach
According to the Constitution of Mexico, the protection of personal data is a fundamental right of all Mexican citizens. Under federal law, individuals also have a right to access, change, oppose, or suppress their personal data. Although all private companies process data, some are not sufficiently familiar with Mexico’s data privacy principles and regulations, and many may not have an up-to-date assessment of their own risk of a data breach. In addition, they may not be aware that the Mexican Supreme Court’s recent shift in perspective regarding personal injury cases may herald a change in the way data privacy breaches are handled in the future. This interview explores the impact of Mexico’s data privacy regulations on private companies, discusses the unique approach of Mexican regulators to data privacy enforcement, and offers advice as to how companies can stay compliant.
CPR Appoints New Cyber Panel Ahead of Anticipated Increase in Data Security Disputes
The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, a New York-based organisation offering Alternative Dispute Resolution services, has recently announced the launch of a new specialised panel of neutrals, commissioned to deal with cybersecurity disputes. The Cyber Panel is composed of experts in cyber-related areas such as data breaches and subsequent insurance claims. In a press release, Noah Hanft, President of CPR, described the new panel as guiding the “critical effort” by businesses to “prevent and/or resolve cyber-related disputes in a manner that best protects operations, customers and reputation” due to attacks now occurring with increased frequency and sophistication.
Privacy and Cybersecurity June 2017 Events
Please join us for our June 2017 Privacy and Cybersecurity Events.
Upcoming Webinar on Cybersecurity & the Internet of Things
“Connected” products—not just traditional IT products—are increasingly subject to cyber attacks globally. The question companies are (and should be) asking is no longer whether there will be an attack involving Internet of Things devices and infrastructure, but when. Join us on May 24 for the third installment of our 2017 IoT webinar series and get practical guidance from our international team of cybersecurity lawyers, who will present key elements of Hogan Lovells’ well-received client workshop on this rapidly evolving topic.
State of the Cyber Nation: UK Government Report on Cybersecurity Breaches
On 19 April 2017, the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published a report on cyber security breaches and how they affected UK companies in the last year. The report indicates that a number of UK companies have not implemented comprehensive cybersecurity policies or implemented strong safeguards to protect against cyber attacks. The General Data Protection Regulation — in particular the requirement to ensure all personal data is protected by appropriate technical and organisational measures — provides a real opportunity for any organisation to build a new cyber security strategy. Documenting the decisions taken on these measures will be useful for showing compliance with the new requirements for data protection by design and by default.
Health Company Fined by UK’s Information Commissioner Office
Last week, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office published a monetary penalty notice, which fined a private healthcare company, HCA International, £200,000 for its failure to keep sensitive data secure.
FCC Chairman Announces Intent to Stay Broadband Data Security Rules
The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Relations Office has released a statement announcing Chairman Pai’s intention to stay a data security rule adopted by the Commission late last year in its Broadband Privacy Order. Absent a stay, the rule is set to go into effect on March 2.
“Cybersecurity Review” Takes Shape in China
On 4 February 2017, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a draft of the Network Products and Services Security Review Measures for public comment: the Draft Measures remain open for comments until 4 March 2017. The Draft Measures are follow-on legislation to China’s Cyber Security Law adopted on 7 November 2016, which will take effect from 1 June 2017.
Privacy and Cybersecurity February 2017 Events
Please join us for our February 2017 Privacy and Cybersecurity Events.
NIST Updates Cybersecurity Framework Guidance
In the past month, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a draft update to its flagship cybersecurity framework as well as new standalone guidance on how organizations can plan to recover from cybersecurity events. The publication of these documents demonstrates NIST’s ongoing focus on providing substantive guidance to the private and public sectors alike on cybersecurity risk management. In this post we summarize the highlights of each of these new NIST publications.
Privacy and Cybersecurity December 2016 Events
Please join us for our December 2016 Privacy and Cybersecurity Events.
US Agencies Release Guidance for Securing the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things continues to draw broad interest from policymakers and regulators around the globe. Following on the heels of a major distributed denial-of-service attack in October 2016 that leveraged potentially millions of compromised IoT devices, members of Congress have sent letters to US federal agencies regarding the risks posed by insecure IoT devices and held a hearing about what if anything should be the US federal response to such IoT-driven cyberattacks. Against that backdrop, in November 2016 two US federal agencies have issued guidance on securing IoT.
Privacy and Cybersecurity November 2016 Events
Please join us for our November 2016 Privacy and Cybersecurity Events.
FTC Litigation Prompts Changes to Congressional Oversight
Close followers of the cases FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. and In the Matter of LabMD know that the litigation has prompted increased Congressional oversight of the Federal Trade Commission’s data security enforcement practices. Prior to Wyndham and LabMD, Congressional debates on the FTC’s data security practices centered on whether the Commission should have additional tools to address these issues, including traditional rulemaking authority to create new data security rules, civil penalty authority to fine violators, or authority over the activities of non-profit entities. To the extent Congress questioned the FTC’s enforcement decisions in this pre- Wyndham and LabMD era, those inquires typically focused on the length of time of FTC settlement agreements, while relatively little attention was paid to how the Commission provided notice of its data security standards or how the Commission chose its enforcement targets. Wyndham and LabMD fundamentally shifted this debate.
Ready, Set, Respond – Hogan Lovells Launches Global Cybersecurity Resource Portal
Cybersecurity risk continues to evolve at an astonishingly rapid rate, prompting companies to review and adjust their plans to deal with the fast-moving threats posed by an increasingly connected world. At the same time, cybersecurity law and regulation around the world are coming of age. In this complex and uncertain environment, it is not surprising that lawyers are increasingly being asked to guide on governance, counsel on compliance and risk allocation, and lead in the event of a cyber incident.
Drawing on our work with clients across the globe, Hogan Lovells’ cross-practice team of cybersecurity lawyers has launched Ready, Set, Respond, a new set of online cybersecurity resources.
FTC Highlights How Agency’s Approach to Data Security Aligns with NIST Cybersecurity Framework
The Federal Trade Commission recently presented an analysis of how its approach to data security over the past two decades compares with the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity issued in 2014 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and strongly endorsed by the White House. The FTC first explains how this question has a faulty premise, as the Framework is not designed to be a compliance checklist. Instead, in this new blog post, the FTC outlines how the FTC’s enforcement actions comport with the Framework’s five Core functions—Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover—and emphasizes how both the Framework and the FTC’s approach highlight risk assessment and management, along with implementation of reasonable security measures, as the touchstones of any data security compliance program.
FTC Unanimously Overturns Dismissal of LabMD Security Practices Case
In a case that could have far-reaching implications for how companies are held liable for data security lapses, the FTC issued an order and opinion unanimously overturning its Chief Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) November 2015 dismissal of charges that LabMD’s allegedly lax data security measures were unfair practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act (see our coverage of […]
UK Government Consults on Data Security Standards and Data Sharing in the Health Sector
On 6th July, the UK Government published two independent reviews concerning data security and data sharing in the health and care system in England. At the same time the UK Government launched a public consultation on proposals resulting from these reviews. The public consultation will be of interest to organisations that regularly interact with the public health sector in the UK and in particular to those organisations that rely on access to health data from the NHS for research purposes.
FTC ALJ: Embarrassment/Emotional Harm and Risk of Harm Does Not Satisfy “Substantial Consumer Injury” Prong of Unfairness
On November 13, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission’s Chief Administrative Law Judge dismissed an FTC administrative complaint based on LabMD’s alleged failure to provide “reasonable and appropriate” security for personal information maintained on its computers. The ALJ concluded that the complaint counsel failed to prove that LabMD’s alleged practices constituted an unfair trade practice. Specifically, according to the ALJ’s initial decision, complaint counsel failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the first prong of the three-part unfairness test – that the alleged unreasonable conduct caused or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers as required by Section 5(n) of the FTC Act. The case is notable for being the first data security case tried before an ALJ and only one of two instances where a company has fought the FTC’s decision to move forward with an enforcement action based on allegations that a company has engaged in unfair practices because of inadequate data security practices. Companies have otherwise voluntarily entered into consent decrees without admitting liability. In the other instance where a company did not capitulate to an FTC enforcement action, Wyndham moved to dismiss the FTC’s lawsuit against it in federal district court based on lack of jurisdiction. Wyndham lost in the district court and on an interlocutory appeal the federal court of appeals upheld that ruling, but remanded the case to district court for a trial on the merits which will assess whether Wyndham’s alleged unreasonable data security practices meet the unfairness factors in section 5(n) of the FTC Act. Accordingly, as the ALJ did here, the court in Wyndham will consider whether the practices and the data breaches there caused or were likely to cause substantial consumer injury under the first prong of an unfairness inquiry
Recap on the ICO Stance on Data Security
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office is known to prefer an “engaging” rather than an enforcement approach with organisations. However, when looking at the “action we’ve taken” page on the ICO website the ICO’s enforcement activity seems to be increasing by the day. While the ICO has stated that it wants to focus its enforcement efforts going forward on unsolicited marketing, such as nuisance messages and calls, breaches of security requirements have to date attracted the majority of the ICO’s enforcement attention. Therefore, organisations operating in the UK would be well-served to focus on understanding and adhering to the ICO’s expectations for data security compliance.
Hogan Lovells’ IAPP Tracker Post Highlights Data Security and Breach Notification Legislation in Congress
For more than a year now, we have been hearing that the spate of highly-publicized data breaches could lead to federal data security and data breach legislation. On March 25, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade took action that brings us closer to seeing that prediction become a reality. In this post, we take a closer look at the bipartisan legislation approved by the subcommittee—the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015 — and discuss five key provisions that are likely to be at issue as the legislation moves forward.
The 2015 State of the Union Addresses Cybersecurity, Data Security, and Privacy
Tonight, the President’s State of the Union address covered, as he put it, “the tasks that lie ahead.” Among the policy initiatives that he proposed, he “urge[d]…Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information.” What he was referring to is a set of cybersecurity and info sharing initiatives and privacy and data security proposals that the White House started rolling out last week. The President also alluded to a report to be released next month that will address the Administration’s actions to curtail domestic surveillance programs. We provide here excerpts of the President’s address that discuss cybersecurity, data security, and privacy.
Massachusetts Data Breach Settlement Highlights Expectation of Timely Notification
On December 8, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced a settlement with TD Bank, under which TD Bank must pay $625,000 and take several steps to strengthen its data security practices. The settlement agreement stems from a data breach that impacted over 90,000 Massachusetts residents and over 260,000 customers nationwide. The AG’s approach to this case and the resulting settlement underscore the importance of providing prompt notification following a data breach as well as maintaining adequate oversight over the security practices of third-party service providers.