Massachusetts Data Security Standards
Intellectual Property Counselor
1/2009
Cynthia Larose, Elissa Flynn-Poppey, and Julia M. Siripurapu
On January 1, 2009, businesses were originally scheduled to be held to a higher standard regarding the protection of Massachusetts residents' personal information and be required to implement written programs for the protection of personal information. The regulations set out in detail the required minimum standards to be met by persons or businesses who own, license, store, or maintain personal information about a Massachusetts consumer or employee (the "Standards").
In this article, published in January 2009 in the Intellectual Property Counselor, Issue No. 145, Mintz Levin attorneys Cynthia Larose, Elissa Flynn-Poppey, and Julia M. Siripurapu describe the impact that this new standard will have on companies, and the minimum security measures that must be taken by companies for both written and electronic documents. The article also details the penalties that companies could face if they fail to comply.
