Monthly Archives: June 2018

+1 State Legislature Passes Blockchain Legislation. 2 Points to the Legislation to Pave a Way for Blockcahin transactions.

Ohio Legislature passed SB220 (2018 | OH)  which addess blockahin by adding to the definition of electronic transactions.

The new definition of “electronic record”  & “electronic signature” to  include blockchain-based transactions.

Cleveland | Ohio legislature passes blockchain legislation

Regulatory TREND. Higher State Regulations for Credit Reporting Agencies. 8 states.

  • NY rules will require credit reporting agencies to comply with the state’s Department of Financial Services cybersecurity standards
  • An agreement between Equifax & 8 State Financial regulators will allow the states to:
    • impose punitive damages against Equifax
    • conduct annual  security audits 
    • develop written data protection policies and guides
    • monitor outside technology vendors
    • improve software patch management controls
  • The states:
    • Alabama
    • California
    • Georgia
    • Maine
    • Massachusett…

3 Ways Crypto Currency can Increase Capacity for Renewables

  • “By running off electricity that would otherwise be curtailed because of low demand, crypto-mining could allow more clean energy to be profitably built on the grid”
  • Texas has been a leader in dealing with intermitancy that can power crytocurrency
    • Texas “competitive renewable electricity zones”  
      • average wind curtailment in Texas decreased from over 16% to less than 2%
      • wind generation more than doubled
    • private investment in energy storage
  • flexible demand option for crypto currency…

Campaign & Lege TREND. Data Collection by Businesses. 1st Proposal in the Nation.

A ballot proposition in California would:

  • allow Californias to tell businesses not to sell their personal information
  • permit Californians lawsuits if  a business fails to implement reasonable security procedures and later suffered a data breach
  • creates a right to know for consumers to know when a business sells or discloses their information for a business purpose

Exception to the ballot proposal?

business that collect less than $50 million in annual revenue and meet certain other standards…

Lege Trend. Create a nonprofit + Partner with a Univeristy Law School = Legislative & Regulatory Recommendations

State: Vermont

Grid Security Partners:

  • Protect Our Power, an independent, nonprofit organization
  • The Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School

Goal of Partnership: to make the grid more resistant to physical or cyber threats & to improve its ability to restore power quickly in the event of an attack

Outcome: offer regulatory and legislative proposals

Valley News | Vermont Law School Team to Research Electrical Grid Security

Business TREND. Insurance Market Support for Data Security Laws

Insurance market expected an increase in policies after the the EU passed GDPR, here’s waht happened:

  •  language in GDPR isn’t clear on whether insurance policies can cover the hefty fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of global revenue.
    • language is unclear and clarification is up to local regulators
  • 90% of the cyber policy market is in the US
  • Analysts expect a pick up in the European share of cyber policies

Wall Street Journal | Why Europe’s Cyber Insurance Windfall Hasn’t Happened 

4th Largest Data Breach Fine Lands in Texas Healthcare Community

The data breaches: Data Breaches in 2012 and 2013 at M.D. Anderson in Houston

The regulatory agency issuing the fine: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via the Office of Civil Rights

The Fine: $4.3 million

Houston Chronicle  | MD Anderson to pay $4.3 million penalty for data breach

“MD Anderson hit with $4.3M privacy fine.” POLITICO 

 

Campaign TREND. +1 State Moving to Regulate Bitcoin Campaign Contributions

State:  California

California Regulatory Agency: California Fair Political Practices Commission

Recommendation from the California Agency Legal Counsel: 

  • cryptocurrency contributions do not violate the state’s Political Reform Act
  • BUT, “could be significant difficulties in establishing the true source of bitcoin donors”
 

Business Trend. Smart Cities + Energy Storage = Municipal Cloud Storage

The companies : Blink Charging & Israeli smart city developer Ya’acobi Brothers Group

The benefits of EV Charging via City Infrastructure:

  • Enable smart city infrastructure
  • Permits integration with wif-fi, cloud networks, cameras for city data management

Utility Dive | Blink eyes significant EV charging expansion via smart streetlights