Monthly Archives: February 2015

Cars Retain Your Data, Folks. Feds File Legislation to Protect Your Car Data.

New federal legislation would establish federal data security standards for car makers. Most cars collect data, without the vehicle owner or driver’s knowledge. The data is then sold to third parties. 

Legislation would require:

  •  car companies and third-party vendors to be competent in:
    • detecting 
    • reporting
    • responding to real-time hacking events
  • drivers would be notified of:
    • data collection,
    • data …

Lege Trend: More States Move Fast to Protect Students. Districts Face $50,000 Fines per Breach.

A panel in rugged, independent Idaho is creating a task force to study:

  • how much student data is sold to third parties
  • how best to protect student data, and
  • how to reduce sharing student data. 

 State and federal agencies collect nearly 566 data points per student. Last year, Idaho passed a law that can fine school districts up to $50,000 for student data security breaches.

Lege Trend: Federal Data Breach Legislation

Last week Congressmen Barton (R-TX) and Rush (D-IL) filed data breach notification legislation. Feds want to protect personal, private information and the states are quickly passing bills that further protect their citizens. 

What you need to know about the federal bills:

  • Act Name: Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA Act)
  • Bill Number: HR 580
  • Senators Feinstein, Pryor, Rockefeller, and Nelson filed similar, but not identical bill:
    • Data S…

Breach Leads to Class Action. Rinse. Repeat.

Last week Anthem experienced a data security breach that resulted in the exposure of personal information for up to 80 million people.   This week, a class action lawsuit has been filed in Atlanta.  

Here’s what plaintiffs allege:

  • World’s biggest known data breach
  • The FBI has identified health care as particularly weak in data security. 

Courthouse N…

4 Data Security Policy Trends

  • Health Information protected by HIPPA will put companies at risk.
    • Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights enforcement actions have led to multiple million dollar settlements against hospitals, clinics, and health systems
  • FTC will take enforcement action. That action will lead to lawsuits challenging the FTC powers of enforcement. 
    • Opportunity for state enforcement abounds.
  • More lawsuits against compa…

Data Breach Liability for Retailer? Is there a Financial Cap for a Grocer?

Retail data breaches lead to class action lawsuits. They’re new. They’re trendy.

How financial liability for a breach is assessed is a developing legal trend. Legal trends turn into legislative trends as states grapple with assigning liability.

Today the retailers & the banks are at odds over this in policy court. To add fuel to the this policy fire, a federal court sided with a retailer against financial institutions by limiting a grocer’s liability to:

  • $5…

Public Ed Contractors Want Data. States Stop the Data Flow.

In 2014, California passed bills to protect student data from contractors. What did the bills do?

  • Require “school districts to maintain control and ownership of any data managed by a private vendor.” Cal AB 1584 (2014)
  • Give education technology companies until 2016 to stop selling student personal identifying information and to stop target marketing to students