Privacy & Cybersecurity

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Into the Breach - Security Failures Can Cost You

March 30, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Once again, we have evidence that failures to implement the most basic of data security measures can cost real money.

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HIPAA Enforcement on the Rise: Do You Know Who Your Business Associates Are??

March 28, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

In the two-plus years since the enactment of the HITECH Act, the health care industry has seen a dramatic shift in federal and state HIPAA enforcement posture.
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Review of Telecom/Media Industry Comments to FTC's Privacy Framework

March 28, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Our ongoing effort to summarize the comments (see post here) filed in response to the FTC’s Privacy Framework continues this week as we focus on the Telecommunications and Media industry.
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Another view of the Williams-Sonoma "Zip Code Case"

March 18, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

We've been writing extensively on the decision out of California in Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma and collection of zip codes in credit card transactions. Our colleagues on the West Coast have published a new advisory that makes interesting reading.
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2010 Annual Ponemon Study on Cost of Data Breaches

March 16, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

The 2010 Ponemon Institute study on the cost of data breaches has been released. The numbers are eye-opening. The average total cost per reporting company in the study was $7.2 million per breach -- the most expensive data breach cost $35.3 million and the least expensive breach cost $780,000.  
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FTC Privacy Framework: Comments from the Retail/Promotion/Advertising Industry

March 16, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

In our continuing effort to summarize the more than 400 comments posted in response to the FTC’s Privacy Framework, we have organized our summaries into the following five industry groups: Retail/Promotion/Advertising; Software/Technology; Telecommunications/Media; Privacy Advocates/Government; and Financial Services/General Business.
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Office of Civil Rights Speaks at HIMSS - on the heels of a $4.3 million fine to Cignet Health

February 24, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

This week, we heard about the first civil money penalty under the HIPAA Privacy Rule for failure to provide access to medical records and willful neglect -- and it was a whopper.
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Massachusetts General Hospital settles 2009 breach with Office of Civil Rights

February 24, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

The cost of data breaches keeps on rising. Add another million to this week's HIPAA charges.
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Privacy Lawsuit Against Data Aggregator Spokeo Dismissed

February 10, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

The practices of online data aggregator and broker Spokeo, Inc. (“Spokeo”) have come under the scrutiny of consumers and consumer privacy advocates for a while now, and have been on the FTC’s radar since at least last summer when the Center for Democracy and Technology filed a complaint against Spokeo with the Commission.
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It's Tax Time -- Use Caution with those W-2 Forms

January 24, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

We’ve had several questions lately regarding “mixups” with mailings of W-2 forms, and whether certain situations are really “data breaches.”   
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FTC Extends Comment Period - UPDATED

January 24, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

The Federal Trade Commission has extended the public comment period on its December 1, 2010 report -- FTC Privacy Report. The FTC press release says that, in light of the complex issues raised by the report, a number of organizations have requested an extension of the original January 31, 2011 deadline. 
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Arizona Hospital Workers Fired for Inappropriately Accessing Shooting Victim Records

January 13, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Once again, a public event has piqued the "curiosity" of hospital employees in violation of HIPAA. The University Medical Center (UMC) at Tucson has fired three administrative staff and a contracted nurse for wrongfully accessing medical records related to the shooting rampage that killed six people and seriously injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
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Comparison of Commerce Department and Federal Trade Commission Privacy Proposals

January 7, 2011 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Just before the end of 2010, both the Commerce Department (here) and the Federal Trade Commission released their agencies' respective proposals for privacy frameworks in the United States.
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Commerce Department Seeking Public Input on Proposed Privacy Framework

December 22, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Yesterday, the Department of Commerce published a notice in the Federal Register, seeking feedback on proposals in its recently-unveiled privacy report.
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Data Breach at NYC "Hop-on, Hop-off" Tour Company -- 110,000 credit card numbers stolen

December 22, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Since March 1, 2010, privacy professionals have been waiting for a data breach that could bring an enforcement action under 201 CMR 17.00, the Massachusetts privacy regulations. I just spoke with Paul Roberts, editor of threatpost.com, a blog that posted an entry yesterday regarding a breach that could do just that.  
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Questions Asked by the FTC in the Privacy Report - Part II

December 7, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

In last week's Privacy Report , the Federal Trade Commission posed a series of questions, soliciting comment and discussion from stakeholders to better inform its final report on the subject, due to be issued mid-2011.
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It's almost 2011. Do you know where your Red Flags Rule compliance program is?

December 7, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

In all the flurry of privacy-related issues over the last few weeks, a deadline has been slowly creeping up......remember the Red Flags Rule?  
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FTC to Industry on Consumer Privacy: You "Must Do Better" - UPDATE

December 1, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just released its long-awaited (and 123-page long) report on consumer privacy: "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers"  (the "Report").
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EchoMetrix Settles FTC Complaint Over Disclosure of Children's Information to Marketers

November 30, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with EchoMetrix over charges that it failed to inform parents that information it was collecting about their children would be disclosed to third-party marketers. 
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Don't Shoot the Messenger: Another Court Cautions Against Retaliating Against Employees Who Report Data Security Concerns

November 29, 2010 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

Recently, a California state appellate court in Cutler v. Dike, No. B210624, 2010 WL 3341663 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 26, 2010), upheld a jury finding that an employer illegally fired an employee because he objected to the manner in which his employer maintained its confidential patient information.
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