Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

In recent months, the Belgian media has reported on a significant increase in data breaches. In December 2012, the National Belgian Railway Company inadvertently published 1.46 million sets of customer data online. The rise in data security incidents has caught the attention of the Belgian Privacy Commission, which has the authority to make recommendations on any matter relating to the application of the fundamental data protection principles in the Belgian Data Protection Act of December 8, 1992. In a May 2013 article published in Bloomberg BNA’s World Data Protection Report

The Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP is pleased to announce that Bojana Bellamy, global director of data privacy for Accenture, will be joining the firm as president of the Centre, effective September 2, 2013. Current Centre President, Marty Abrams, who is retiring on September 1, will stay on as an advisor to the Centre.

The Bavarian data protection authority recently updated its compliance initiative regarding online tracking tools to include Adobe’s online tracking product (Adobe Analytics (Omniture)). As with previous initiatives of this nature, the underlying analyses were carried out in an automated manner, using a program specifically developed by the Bavarian data protection authority to verify compliance.

On June 24, 2013, the European Commission announced new technical implementing measures that address the EU data breach notification requirement for telecom operators and internet service providers (“ISPs”). Based on a Commission Regulation, these companies must:

• notify the competent national authority of the incident (or at least provide an initial description thereof) within 24 hours after detection of the breach;
• outline which data are affected and what measures have been or will be taken by the company;
• pay attention to the type of data compromised when assessing whether to notify subscribers (i.e. evaluating whether the breach is likely to have an adverse effect on personal data or privacy); and
• use a standardized format for notifying the competent national authority (e.g. an online form which is the same for all EU Member States).

Hunton & Williams LLP proudly announces that the firm’s global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice was top-ranked in both The Legal 500 United States and EMEA 2013 guides. This is the fourth consecutive year that the practice has been listed in “Tier 1” by The Legal 500 United States.

On July 1, 2013, Practising Law Institute (“PLI”) hosts its first symposium on Cybersecurity 2013: Managing the Risk in New York. Hunton & Williams partner Lisa J. Sotto is the Chair of the event. The program features timely cybersecurity topics, including the threat landscape, the legal environment (such as the Obama Administration’s Executive Order on Cybersecurity), and how companies can manage cybersecurity incidents when they occur and seek to prevent cyber attacks before they occur. Hunton & Williams partner Paul M. Tiao and Centre for Information Policy Leadership ...

On June 20, 2013, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) launched its Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2012/13 (the “Report”). Introducing the Report, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham strongly emphasized that, as consumers become increasingly aware of their information rights, good privacy practices will become a commercial benefit and a business differentiator. He outlined the seven key “e”s of the ICO’s role: enforce, educate, empower, enable, engage, and to be effective and efficient.

On June 14, 2013, the European Data Protection Supervisor (the “EDPS”) issued an Opinion regarding a joint communication by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Cyber Security Strategy of the European Union: an Open, Safe and Secure Cyberspace (the “Strategy”), as well as the European Commission’s proposed draft directive to ensure uniformly high security measures for network and information security across the EU (the “NIS Directive”). The EDPS welcomes recognizing privacy and data protection as core values of a robust cybersecurity policy, as opposed to separating out security and privacy, but draws attention to several deficiencies, stating that “the ambitions of the strategy are not reflected in how it will be implemented.”

On June 14, 2013, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill requiring law enforcement agencies to obtain warrants before accessing customer electronic data held by email service providers. Introduced on March 4, 2013, the bill passed unanimously in both the Texas House and Senate on May 7 and May 22, respectively. The law takes effect immediately.

On June 13, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced a resolution agreement and $275,000 settlement with Shasta Regional Medical Center (“Shasta”) that pertained to impermissible disclosures of protected health information (“PHI”) by Shasta officials to the media, as well as to Shasta’s entire workforce.