2020: The Year of Personal Privacy

In case you have not heard the news, 2020 ushered in a new law in California (the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA) that gives consumers the right to know, upfront, what personal information companies collect about them. It also gives consumers the right to demand a copy of their information, to require that a company delete information it has collected, and to opt out of having their data sold to third parties.

Continue reading 2020: The Year of Personal Privacy ›

Profiting from Privacy

With the EU’s new privacy rules (GDPR) that took effect earlier this year, the California Consumer Privacy Act that takes effect January 1^st, 2020, and the clamor for a federal data privacy law in the United States, it is increasingly clear that privacy will not, in the future, be an optional part of business operations.

Continue reading Profiting from Privacy ›

New California Privacy Laws: U.S. Meets GDPR-Like Consumer Rights

For any U.S. business that has spent 2018 gearing up to comply with the EU’s new privacy rules General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect in May, your time and effort were well spent. One month after the GDPR took effect, California rushed through a new law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that clearly took inspiration from broad aspects of the GDPR. 

Continue reading New California Privacy Laws: U.S. Meets GDPR-Like Consumer Rights ›

Vendor Management and Cyber Planning: Why Equifax Shows “What Not to Do”

If you’ve ever wondered why all the hullabaloo about cyber planning, here is a great example:

Equifax has said that it “owed no duty to safeguard the personal information of millions of consumers and financial institutions” affected by its massive 2017 data breach, and has asked to have the resulting lawsuits dismissed. (Daily Report, 24 July 2018.)

Continue reading Vendor Management and Cyber Planning: Why Equifax Shows “What Not to Do” ›

Cyber Insurance: A Common Exclusion Tested in Court

A recent court dispute makes clear that there are many elements to cyber planning and protection for any company to consider. Although some do involve technical bells and whistles, many or most are merely business operation decisions involving non-technical matters. Just like other operational decisions, the success of these planning measures can have a direct impact on your bottom line.

Continue reading Cyber Insurance: A Common Exclusion Tested in Court ›

Demystifying the Rules Surrounding GDPR and Your Business

If you have received a deluge of emails regarding updated privacy policies from services you use, you are not alone. They relate to a new set of data privacy rules that went into effect across the European Union on May 25, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The new rules have sweeping implications for businesses around the world. In fact, Facebook and others have already been sued for non-compliance with the GDPR.

Continue reading Demystifying the Rules Surrounding GDPR and Your Business ›

How New EU Data Privacy Rules May Apply to Your U.S. Business

If you use any online services such as Facebook or Google, you may have seen new tools and products relating to your account privacy settings recently, along with a tweak to privacy policies and terms of use.

Continue reading How New EU Data Privacy Rules May Apply to Your U.S. Business ›

Five Lessons from Equifax

The continuing fall-out from the Equifax breach reported last month makes great headline fodder, and is really good for Congressional representatives eager to show themselves hard at work protecting voters.

Continue reading Five Lessons from Equifax ›

National Cybersecurity Month: Protect Your Assets

It’s National Cybersecurity Month. You’d hardly know this momentous occasion was coming: in September of 2017, we kept waking up to headlines about hacks at major outfits such as Equifax, Deloitte, and the SEC.

Continue reading National Cybersecurity Month: Protect Your Assets ›

GDPR: Good Defense = Prepared + Responsive!

If you have any business dealings outside the U.S., you may have heard about shifting data privacy laws in the European Union.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the new EU-wide privacy rule, comes into effect in May 2018. Anyone who does business with residents of the EU will have to be cognizant of the GDPR’s provisions and pitfalls.

Continue reading GDPR: Good Defense = Prepared + Responsive! ›