Monthly Archives: November 2021

What is happening? Texas Legislature passed HB 1576 (2021 | TX) that requires that joint legislative committees develop a master plan for blockchain expansion. Why is this important? The bill also opens the door for investment into blockchain. This includes economic development opportunities for the blockchain industry. How will this be important? This master plan […]

What is happening? Texas Legislature passed SB 275 (2021 | TX) that requires The Texas Department of Information Resources to report on the Texas Volunteer Incident Response Team. Why is this important? The goal is to offer rapid response to a cyber event at the state. How will this be important? The report will make […]

What is happening? The Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC), a Special Interest Group of the non-profit Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, is proud to announce the release of The National Research Data Privacy Agreement, a great resource to support schools in their student data privacy stewardship roles Why is this important? The National Research Data […]

What is happening? Miami has created a partnership that earns it a portion of the proceeds from MiamiCoin. So far Miami has earned $21 million. Why is this important? MiamiCoin is the city’s version of CityCoins, digital tokens which people can hold and trade as a stake in their city’s government. The idealized view is that MiamiCoin will […]

What’s happening? DTRAVEL is a decentralized home sharing platform that is governed by its community via the Dtravel Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), which gives community members a say with support from  world’s leading crypto-friendly online travel agency Why is this important? By relaying on blockchain, the participants can own part of the platform and make decisions […]

What’s happening? QR codes in and of themselves are not privacy hackers, but the websites the QR codes lead you to, will track you can follow your data. Privacy experts recommend non-tracking browsers like Safari or Firefox. Why is this important? Legislating consumer privacy online is very of the moment. Add QR codes to your […]

What’s happening? CT joins UT and OH with offering liability protections for businesses who comply with reasonable data security measures. Why is this important? These laws are viewed as a preview to liability protections coming to other states. How will this be important? Need to write this legislation? Well, it’s been written. Fox Rothschild LLP […]

What’s happening? 25% of local elected officials are opting out of cyber training. Why is this important? The elected official exemption often also applies to their staff & the number of cyber attacks on local governments is increasing. How will this be important? 58% of IT executives said their organization’s cybersecurity budgets are not adequate […]

What’s happening? The Department of State is establishing a Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Supporters are bipartisan including Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.)  Why is this important? The DOJ gave the Senate the power to confirm the head of the his Bureau. How will this be important? The bureau will focus on […]

What’s happening? The Department of Justice will use the False Claims Act to impose penalties upon recipients of government contracts and grants that fail to follow required cybersecurity standards. Why is this important? To be penalized a contractor had to knowingly fail to comply. How will this be important? They want to take a stand […]