Category Archives: data privacy

Government Data Breach. Concealed Weapons Licenses Compromised. How did this red state react?

State: Florida

The data breach: Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services online payment system was hacked and the following information was obtained:

  •  names, addresses and phone numbers of 16,000
  • 470 people whose social security numbers

What steps did Florida take? Ordered a review of the department’s cyber security measures  & offering free credit monitoring

What was the reaction of gun owners? “ too little too late”

WWSB ABC 7 | Concealed weapons permit holders targeted in massive…

Trend. Cyber National Guard. Private cyber national guard?

Who is proposing a cyber national guard? Congressman Will Hurd, Chair of the House’s information technology subcommittee

Why push for a cyber national guard?  to help recruit stronger talent to fill cybersecurity roles in the federal government

How does the private sector factor in? a cyber nataional guard would “allow industry professionals to bring innovative ideas back into the federal government without the government having to keep up with the salaries available in the technology…

Regulatory Trend. Fining Mortgage Companies for Data Breaches.

4 ways mortgage companies can up their game and push back regulatory fines:

  • Proper security frameworks and policies that secure data both inside and outside;
  • Assess vendors and third parties for data breach risk;
  • Work with experts to assess and manage the “risk across the supply chain and build better defense-in-depth to prevent a breach;” and
  • “Use tools and analytics that are specially designed to monitor and assess the security posture of vendors in real-time, as well as improve…

Advocacy Trend. Education Data Privacy Toolkits. Activate against Schools and Ed Tech Companies

The advocates:  Parent Coalition for Student Privacy and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

The toolkit for parents to empower them on student data privacy: toolkit

What’s the target: data privacy policies of school districts and ed tech companies

Education Week | New Student Data Privacy Toolkit Encourages Parent Advocacy

3 Ways Smart Cities = Data Security Nightmare

The uptick in hacks as connectivity increases:

Smart technology adoption is high, but:

  • innovations are deployed without robust testing
  • cybersecurity is often neglected
  • security protocols are not kept current

A hypothetical hack of power systems impacting 93 Million in North America would cost:

 anywhere from $21 billion to $71…

Lege Trend. 8 Elements. Data Breach Notification that outs the hackers.

South Africa recently enacted a new data breach notification law that requires companies to:

  • Notification by the company will have to factor in the needs of law enforcement
    • Delay is only permitted if it undermines or impedes an investigation
  • Companies are asked to restore the integrity of their information system.
  •  Notification itself must be in writing  either via email or regular mail 
  • Alternative notification if mail fails, is  prominent position on the website, published in the…

Lege Trend. A Data Protection Bill Called Bad for Business. The Competing Interests…

The  Bill:  Illinois Right to Know Bill

What does the Right to Know Bill in Illinois do? It allows a person to know what information is collected about the person and to which businesses that information could be sold.

Why is it considered bad for business? 

  • complex compliance regulations, which would apply to businesses of all sizes,
  • enormous burden on small businesses statewide
  • “requires any business with a website — even a local flower  shop or pizza parlor — to draft privacy policies…

8 States Data Privacy Laws. States Beating Feds to the Punch & the Koolaide.

  • Illinois
    • “right to know” bill
      • will let consumers find out what information about them is collected & what kinds of businesses the information is shared with
    • A bill to regulate when consumers’ locations can be tracked by smartphone applications
    • A bill to limit the use of microphones in internet-connected devices like mobile phones, smart TVs and personal assistants like Amazon’s Echo
  • California and Connecticut
    • Updated their laws to restrict government access to online…

Lege Trend. Procurement Trend. Expanded IT bidders.

State: Ohio

IT Procurement Issue: How to get innovative tech firms to bid on IT contracts, especially for data analytics.

The procurement change: Remove the old school, clunky procurement process

The procurement fix:

  •  streamline the procurement process by creating a request for proposal that prequalifies companies to provide analytics according to a range of disciplines, such as fraud, auditing, risk management, public safety…
  • remove the requirement that a vendor has to have worked for a…