Proposed American Privacy Rights Act of 2024
For quite some time it has been unlikely that the United States would have a federal comprehensive privacy law. That could be about to change. The federal legislature is coming closer than ever to agreeing on a comprehensive federal privacy law. In the past the two main holdups were disagreement over whether such a law […]
Why Organizations Should Care About Personal Information Privacy Beyond Comprehensive Privacy Laws: Reason 5
5-week Privacy Law Series Reason 5 – Things change While there is not a general federal privacy law – yet – there was substantial momentum in the federal legislature last year to enact such a law, and it is conceivable that a comprehensive federal privacy law will be enacted this year. If it is, it […]
Why Organizations Should Care About Personal Information Privacy Beyond Comprehensive Privacy Laws: Reason 4
5-week Privacy Law Series Reason 4 – Consumer protection and common law liabilities. In addition to specific privacy laws, businesses must be aware of avoiding practices that could mislead or deceive individuals or that are otherwise unfair in relation to individuals. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a federal government agency that works to prevent […]
Why Organizations Should Care About Personal Information Privacy Beyond Comprehensive Privacy Laws: Reason 3
5-week Privacy Law Series Reason 3 – Specific laws Even though the United States currently does not have a comprehensive general privacy law in place, it does have a number of industry-specific laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley […]
Why Organizations Should Care About Personal Information Privacy Beyond Comprehensive Privacy Laws: Reason 2
5-week Privacy Law Series Reason 2 – Security All companies that handle personal information or other confidential or sensitive information should have a written information security program (WISP) in place to protect that data. Not only is it a best business practice, it is necessary to avoid liability arising from improper access to, use or […]
Why Organizations Should Care About Personal Information Privacy Beyond Comprehensive Privacy Laws: Reason 1
5-week Privacy Law Series Reason 1 – Trust/confidence Individuals care about their privacy. That means they care about what personal information you collect about them and what you do with it. Even if a law doesn’t require you to have a privacy notice (privacy policy) in place, disclosing your business’ privacy practices builds confidence and […]
President Biden signs executive order to implement new EU-US Data Privacy Framework
President Biden has signed an executive order implementing the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which replaces the EU-US Privacy Shield that was struck down by the by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) due to what it perceived to be a lack of safeguards and remedies for individuals located in the EU in […]
Can you believe it? There actually might be a federal data privacy law enacted by year end!
On Wednesday the U.S. House Commerce Committee voted 53-2 to send a bipartisan data privacy bill to the entire House. The bill (H.R. 8152), entitled the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, would accomplish not only the important objective of having a national standard for protection of Individuals’ privacy rights, but also the important objective […]
Are You Ready for the New State Privacy Laws (And the Old Ones)?
Here’s an update on recent state data privacy law developments. Currently California and Nevada have privacy laws in effect, and the California law is set for a significant update effective as of January 1, 2023 as a result of the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) amendment to the CCPA. This amendment expands the compliance obligations […]
Connecticut Joins the Privacy Law Party
Connecticut has joined the growing number of states that have enacted comprehensive general privacy laws. California, Colorado, Utah and Virginia now have such laws. The Connecticut law applies to personal information obtained about “consumers”, meaning individual residents of Connecticut. A “consumer” does not include an individual acting in a commercial or employment context or as […]