As reported by the LA Times, “a powerful coalition of technology companies and business lobbies that included Facebook, Inc., Google, Inc., the California Chamber of Commerce, insurers, bankers and cable television companies as well as direct marketers and data brokers” were able to stop a California bill aimed at giving consumers greater insight as to [...]

In Letting Down Our Guard With Web Privacy, published on March 30, 2013, the author details ongoing research being conducted by Alessandro Acquisti, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon University.  Mr. Acquisti’s research is cutting edge when it comes to online behavioral advertising (OBA)  and associated consumer behavior.  Indeed, he’s the academic who famously announced [...]

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is being sponsored by the Department of Homeland Defense as well as the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.   In a Presidential Proclamation, President Obama called “upon the people of the United States to recognize the importance of cybersecurity and to observe this month [...]

According to the World Economic Forum, “personal data represents an emerging asset class, potentially every bit as valuable as other assets such as traded goods, gold or oil.”  Given the inherent value of this new asset class, it’s no surprise there has been an ongoing tug of war regarding how consumers should be compensated for access [...]

March Madness and murdered dictators aside, next month may be memorable for significant new privacy polices and obligations coming online — especially those for vendors holding sensitive information of a Massachusetts resident.  Given the expiration of a two-year grace period, Massachusetts will require effective March 1, 2012 that all service provider contracts include provisions requiring that [...]

Deserving of a fairly large yawn, the International Data Privacy Day came on a Saturday this year.  The US sponsors — who are basically large tech companies — can hardly be faulted for failing to elevate today to true holiday status.  In Europe, the festivities are equally lame.  Last year, it was not much different. [...]

On January 25, 2012, the European Union will announce a comprehensive reform of its data protection rules.  This proposed shift will likely toughen existing data-protection requirements and, according to one published report, will include a new rule requiring companies to disclose data breaches within 24 hours of the breach – in effect leapfrogging the toughest [...]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Reilly v. Ceridian Corporation, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 24561, 3 (3d Cir., December 12, 2011), found that “allegations of an increased risk of identity theft resulting from a security breach” were insufficient to secure Article III standing.  In so doing, the court affirmed the dismissal of [...]

On November 2 – 3, 2011, about 600 persons from around the world attended the 33rd International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.   For those unable to make the trek to Mexico City, what follows is selected insight gained from several folks who attended and were kind enough to report back what was discussed in [...]

On October 20, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued an opinion reversing a Maine District Court’s dismissal of negligence and implied contract claims against grocer Hannaford Brothers.  The underlying data breach publicly announced on March 17, 2008 by Hannaford led to a consolidated class action that was ultimately rejected in its entirety by the [...]