Cybersecurity

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Making a splash with its first-ever data security enforcement actions, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) entered uncharted waters late last year by aggressively asserting its role in safeguarding consumer information. In the fall of 2014, for the first time, the FCC took administrative enforcement action in two instances against telecommunications carriers that misused data, misrepresented their data security efforts, and failed to appropriately secure customer data. The FCC’s efforts demonstrate that it believes it has a role to play in the wider privacy landscape, even as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has thus far taken the lead on privacy and data security enforcement.1
Continue Reading FCC Dives into Privacy and Data Security Enforcement

Prompted by data breaches affecting large retailers in the United States, the California legislature recently passed Assembly Bill 1710 (A.B. 1710) to update the state’s breach notification law to require breached entities to provide free credit monitoring services to affected individuals following certain types of data breaches. This change, effective January 1, 2015, was recommended by the California Attorney General’s Office in its 2013 Data Breach Report. The Attorney General’s Office recently published its 2014 Data Breach Report, and its recommendations provide insight into the office’s enforcement priorities. The recommendations may also find their way into California law.
Continue Reading California Amends Data Breach Notification Law and State Attorney General’s Data Breach Report May Lead to More Changes

Federal regulators released guidance in the first half of 2014 that should provide comfort to businesses that are considering sharing information relating to cybersecurity risks with other companies and the government. Although these advisory opinions are nonbinding and do not carry the force of law, they provide strong indications of the priorities of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with respect to facilitating the ability of businesses to engage in cybersecurity risk mitigation. Notably, under the recent guidance, the federal regulators suggest that antitrust and electronic communications privacy concerns, which may have previously made businesses hesitant to share certain information relating to cybersecurity risks, should not preclude business-to-business or business-to-government information sharing that is tailored to mitigate these risks.
Continue Reading Federal Agencies Reduce Barriers to Cyber Threat Information Sharing

In August 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a staff report that evaluates the consumer disclosures made by a number of popular mobile shopping applications and makes recommendations to the providers and users of those apps.1 The FTC staff did not address or find any fault with app platforms, like Google Play or Apple’s App Store, with respect to the consumer disclosures of those apps. This report follows the FTC staff’s March 2013 mobile payment report that recommended mobile payment providers convey clear policies regarding fraudulent and unauthorized charges, encouraged all stakeholders to raise consumer awareness about mobile payment security, and stressed the applicability of its general privacy recommendations to companies in the mobile payment marketplace.2
Continue Reading FTC Recommends Improved Transparency and Security in Mobile Shopping Apps

Recent large-scale data breaches provide a stark reminder of the risks and challenges associated with today’s data-driven economy. The exploding number of devices connected to the Internet and amount of information collected about people by organizations make it increasingly important for officers, directors, and senior management to fully understand the privacy and data security risks faced by their organizations.

One of the most effective techniques for managing those risks is conducting a comprehensive privacy and data security risk assessment. Organizations use such risk assessments to maintain appropriate risk profiles based on the organization’s contractual, regulatory, and governance obligations. Regulatory schemes in some industries, including health1 and finance,2 may require risk assessments for compliance. Organizations that collect payment information to process payments as merchants or payment processors3 or deal with data collected about individuals residing in specific states4 may also have risk assessment obligations. Organizations commonly tailor risk assessments to meet these types of obligations for their risk tolerance and profile. A comprehensive risk assessment may include considerations of scope, documentation, timing, management, and oversight.5
Continue Reading Privacy and Data Security Risk Assessments: An Overview

Despite reaching settlements with more than 50 organizations on data security issues since the late 1990s, no organization seriously challenged the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) authority to bring such cases until FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. made headlines in 20121 The case brought rampant speculation from the privacy and data security community on the likely outcome and potential impact on a number of issues, ranging from the FTC’s enforcement authority to national and state data security laws. Recent rulings rejecting Wyndham’s motions to dismiss may not break new ground for the FTC, but the commission’s ability to overcome the first challenges to its data security enforcement authority are significant and continue the agency’s trajectory as the country’s leading data security enforcer.2
Continue Reading The Wyndham Rulings and the FTC’s Leadership on Data Security Enforcement