Texas New Data Leaders at Agencies near you

2 big data security steps from the 2015 Legislature:

  • SB1844 creates the Interagency Data Coordination and Transparency Commission.
    • staff from 10 legislative agencies
    • will evaluate how data is reported, shared, classified and used in the state.
  •  HB1912 created the statewide data coordinator position at DIR to oversee data at all agencies.

State Tech Magazine

Regulatory Trend: Health Care Data Breach

A health care company experiences a data breach, what’s the regulatory and legal landscape?

  • Civil lawsuits that lead to Class Action lawsuits, check.
  • Penalties imposed by a regulatory agency, check.
    • Health and Human Services reached a $750,000 settlement with Cancer Care Group over a data breach involving HIPPA records. 

What can we learn from this incident?

  • health care companies should  conduct risk analysis of tinformation security policies
  • health care companies should have a written policy for taking hardware and disks containing protected health information out of the office

Modern Healthcare

Lege Trend: Legislative Data Task Force. Protect the Data.

California Governor Jerry Brown announced a new Cybersecurity Task Force today. Its goal are to:

  • “reinforce online security”
  • “protect critical state information from data breaches”

The task force is in response to an audit that faulted California for:

  • lax security measures
  • finding 73 of 77 state entities comply with information security standards.
  • “The 75-page audit criticized the California Department of Technology for failing to identify failing state agencies, and found the state vulnerable to hackers.”

Governor Brown Executive Order     Courthouse News Service

Lege trend: Keystone State Considering Student Data Protection Legislation. Eduction Vendor Data Sought.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Dan Miller, a former teacher, is crafting student data security legislation that will:

  • Require ed-tech vendors to delete their data on former students & alert victims of any data breaches.

Like other states, Pennsylvania is looking to California’s landmark student data protection legislation for guidance.

Post Gazette

Lege Trend: Peach Blossom State Passes Package of Data Security Bills: Internet Providers. Education. Employers. Healthcare.

Delaware this year enacted a package of data security bills, including:

JD Supra

Tech Joins Fight Against Federal Student Data Protection. 3 Reasons Tech Opposes Student Data Security Changes.

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act is undergoing an overhaul. Part of that overhsaul is to strengthen privacy protections for student data. 

The Internet Association opposes the current proposal  because:

  •  it is too broad/vague
  • it has unprecedented notification requirements
  • it does not preempt state law

The Hill  The Internet Association Opposition Letter 

Legal trend: FTC Enforcement Upheld. Retailers Take Note.

This week, the 3rd Court of Appeals upheld an enforcement action against Wyndham for a series of data breaches that exposed the credit card data of 600,000 customers.  

The ruling solidies the FTC’s enforcement actions. This year alone there have been more than 90 reported data security incidents. 

CRM  The Center for Democracy & Technology  The Recorder   National Law Review