On May 16, 2017, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law H.B. 1493—Washington’s first statute governing how individuals and non-government entities collect, use, and retain “biometric identifiers,” as defined in the statute. The law prohibits any “person” from “enroll[ing] a biometric identifier in a database for a commercial purpose, without first providing notice, obtaining consent, or … Continue Reading
In a new post on the Covington Digital Health blog, our colleagues discuss a new European Cloud in Health Advisory Council whitepaper calling for a review of European healthcare data protection rules holding back greater adoption of cloud computing and AI; and for more discussion about the ethics and governance of re-use of patient data for research and planning. To read … Continue Reading
On May 27, 2017, China’s National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee (“NISSTC”), a standard-setting committee jointly supervised by the Standardization Administration of China (“SAC”) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”), released Information Security Technology – Guidelines for Data Cross-Border Transfer Security Assessment (Draft Version) (the “draft Standard”) for public comments. The official Chinese version of … Continue Reading
The increasing connectivity of vehicles has raised questions about how to maintain the security of connected vehicles. In response, the Cloud Security Alliance released on May 25, 2017 a 35-page research and guidance report on Observations and Recommendations on Connected Vehicle Security. The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting a secure … Continue Reading
The FCC has released the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on “Restoring Internet Freedom” that was adopted by a 2-1 vote at the Commission’s open meeting on May 18. The NPRM is substantively very similar to the draft released by Chairman Pai on April 27, and the comment deadlines remain the same: July 17 for … Continue Reading
Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has introduced a bill, the “Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly Act of 2017” (“BROWSER Act,” H.R. 2520) that would create new online privacy requirements. The BROWSER Act would require both ISPs and edge providers (essentially any service provided over the Internet) to provide users with notice of … Continue Reading
The first annual review of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (“Privacy Shield”) is scheduled to occur in September 2017 in Washington, D.C. The first review is particularly important for the nascent framework, as regulators in both the U.S. and the EU are expected to closely scrutinize the operation of the first year of the Privacy Shield, … Continue Reading
On May 11, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure” (the “Order”). The long-anticipated directive was issued months after the White House originally planned to release a cybersecurity order in February. Since then, revised drafts of the order were circulated, including a version from February … Continue Reading
Automated vehicle technology is accelerating, and regulators are racing to keep up. On June 28, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) will hold a workshop to examine the consumer privacy and security issues posed by automated and connected vehicles. The workshop comes several months after the Department of … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit announced today that the full court will rehear the case in which the three-judge panel opinion had dismissed the FTC’s lawsuit against AT&T for allegedly violating Section 5 of the FTC Act due to past “throttling” practices around unlimited data plans. According to the panel opinion, the FTC lacked jurisdiction over AT&T’s … Continue Reading
Among the many issues that can give rise to the initial uncertainty of responding to a significant cybersecurity incident is a failure by incident response team members to understand the perspectives and priorities of other stakeholders. But this complicating factor can readily be mitigated through cross-functional education and relationship building before an incident occurs. In … Continue Reading
Today, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) released the final version of the Measures on the Security Review of Network Products and Services (Trial) (“the Measures”), with an effective date of June 1, 2017 (official Chinese version available here). The issuance of the Measures marks a critical first step toward implementing China’s Cybersecurity Law (“the … Continue Reading