Posted in Cybersecurity
On May 13, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a $1.8 million settlement with two related insurance companies, relating to violations of two different requirements of the NYDFS cybersecurity regulation during the period 2018 to 2019.… Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity
On May 12, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order aimed at improving cybersecurity of the federal government, with assistance from the private sector. The 18-page Executive Order does not set forth specific requirements, but rather sets deadlines for named agencies to develop requirements, standards, or guidelines on specific cybersecurity areas. The Executive Order also states that “All Federal Information Systems should meet or exceed the standards and requirements for cybersecurity set forth in and issued pursuant to this order.” Any company subject to either the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) contract requirements … Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach, Regulatory response
On April 14, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a $3 million settlement with insurance company National Securities Corp. (NSC), relating to violations of three different requirements of the NYDFS cybersecurity regulation during the period 2018 to 2020.… Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity
On March 3, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a Consent Order with a NYDFS-licensed Maine-based mortgage banker and loan servicer settling alleged violations of the NYDFS cybersecurity regulations. (In the matter of Residential Mortgage Services, Inc., March 3, 2021).
The Consent Order required RMS to pay $1.5 million, and within 90 days, submit to NYDFS all of the following: a comprehensive written Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan; a comprehensive cyber risk assessment; RMS’ risked-based policies, procedures and controls; and documentation on its more recent cyber training.
The full post appears on the firm’s Financial … Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach
Investigative findings
In a joint investigation report, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, together with the commissioners of BC, Alberta, and Quebec concluded that Clearview AI violated Canadians’ privacy rights under federal and provincial privacy laws by scraping billons of images of people available online to be continually used in what amounted to a virtual “police lineup.” They found Clearview collected highly sensitive information without the knowledge or consent of individuals, and did so for an inappropriate purpose.
Several key considerations informed the commissioners’ views.
Online data is protected
Heavy reliance on social media, and on the readily available personal information … Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity
On February 5, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) published proposed regulations in the Federal Register that would provide federal financial incentives to utilities that voluntarily increase certain cybersecurity measures above those required by the Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards (“CIP Reliability Standards”) or by the NIST, Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (“NIST Framework”). (86 Fed. Reg. 8309-8325 (Feb. 5, 2021).)
To obtain the incentive, these voluntary measures must “materially enhance the cybersecurity posture of the bulk-power system by enhancing the applicants’ cybersecurity posture substantially above levels required by CIP Reliability Standards, to the benefit of ratepayers.” The … Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach
The end of the Brexit implementation period on 31 December 2020 has brought with it significant changes to the data protection landscape for UK-based businesses. Amid headlines about data transfer issues and a potential adequacy decision for the UK in the coming months, businesses also need to be aware of significant changes to the way in which cross-border personal data breaches with a UK angle will need to be notified to data protection authorities (DPAs) in future.
The GDPR established a “one-stop-shop” principle, allowing companies to notify cross-border personal data breaches to a lead supervisory authority (LSA) in the EU … Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity, Enforcement, Regulatory response
As countries around the globe continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing apps continue to evolve and be developed.
On November 16, 2020, the Hong Kong government is launching a voluntary contact tracing app. The app, known as LeaveHomeSafe, will enable users to record the date and time they visited participating venues by scanning the venue QR code. It has been reported that over 6,000 public and private venues will support the app.
Also in the region, the Singapore government is aiming to make use of its contact tracing app mandatory by the end of 2020. It is proposed … Continue Reading
Please join us for an NT Analyzer Webinar, Solving Apple’s new app privacy requirement. Head of NRF Digital Analytics and Technology Assessment Platform for the US Steven Roosa and Associate Dan Rosenzweig as they walk through the upcoming Apple requirements, and showcase the NT Analyzer Apple dashboard solution.… Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breachFollowing the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore (PDPC) public consultation in May this year (Public Consultation), the Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill (Bill) was introduced and had its first reading in Parliament on 5 October 2020.
The Bill introduces five key changes to the Personal Data Protection Act 2012:
On September 15, 2020, the New York Attorney General (NYAG) announced a proposed settlement with Dunkin’ Brands, relating to brute force and credential stuffing attacks against members’ online accounts (including stored value cards). Dunkin’ does not admit or deny any of the NYAG’s allegations in the complaint. (New York v. Dunkin’ Brands, No. 451787/2019 (N.Y. Sup. Sept. 5, 2020).
According to the NYAG’s 2019 complaint, Dunkin’ had been the subject of hacker attacks attempting to breach its members’ online accounts and steal money from the stored value cards that members registered to those accounts. The … Continue Reading
On 16 July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) published its decision in the landmark case Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd, Maximilian Schrems and intervening parties, Case C-311/18 (known as the Schrems II case). While the EU-US Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield) has been completely invalidated, the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) remain valid, but with strict conditions.
Our recent briefing provides a detailed analysis on the judgement, but here are our recommendations on what organisations should consider doing next:
Schrems II calls into question all transfers of personal information out of the EU that involve export to a country without an adequacy finding. While this affects countries in every region of the world, it does have particular ramifications for the US.
US companies are likely to bear the brunt of this decision. First, because the underlying complaint concerns how Facebook transferred personal data to the US, Schrems II takes particular umbrage with US “mass” surveillance laws, which are unlikely to change in the short term. Second, the US is still the largest economy in the world and information is … Continue Reading
Posted in CybersecurityFacebook’s extensive collection of user-related data must be put on hold in Germany for the time being following a decision of Germany’s Federal Supreme Court on June 23, 2020. In summary proceedings, the Federal Supreme Court overturned an earlier order of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf that – pending the outcome of an appeal by Facebook – had suspended the effect of a prohibition order issued by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) in 2019 restricting Facebook’s collection of data. The FCO’s prohibition order will therefore be effective during Facebook’s ongoing appeal.
The case concerns the terms of use that … Continue Reading
On July 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the federal law that prohibits “robocalls” to cell phones but struck down the exception for collection of debts owed to the federal government. (Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, No. 19–631 (July 6, 2020) (2020 WL 3633780).) Previously, on June 25, a Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission issued some guidance on what constitutes an “autodialer” (or “automatic telephone dialing system“—“ATDS”) relating to that law’s prohibition on text messages. (In re Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, P2P Alliance Petition … Continue Reading
On March 10, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued guidance to all of its regulated institutions engaged in virtual currency business activity, requiring them to have plans for preparedness to manage the possible operational and financial risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. NYDFS requires the plans to be submitted by Thursday, April 9, 2020.… Continue Reading
In a judgment which will be warmly welcomed by employers (and their insurers) in the UK, the UK Supreme Court today overruled the Court of Appeal in holding that that Morrisons supermarkets is not vicariously liable for a data breach maliciously caused by a former employee.
The Supreme Court concluded that the Court of Appeal had misunderstood the principles governing vicarious liability in their previous judgments in the case.… Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity
The National Cyber Security Centre (the NCSC) has warned that businesses and the public face an increased threat from attacks seeking to exploit COVID-19 (coronavirus), particularly given the move to home-working as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.… Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity
A few weeks ago, we blogged about the decision of the English High court in AA v. Persons Unknown & Ors.
Given the level of interest in the case, we have prepared a deeper-dive into the facts and the implications of the decision, with a focus on the important role played in the case by cyber insurance. This is set out below.… Continue Reading
Quebec’s minister of justice announced her intention to introduce a bill aimed at modernizing the privacy regime provided by the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.… Continue Reading
Recent legal action by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) will shed light on the Federal Court’s willingness to enforce and monitor compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). On February 6, the OPC filed a notice of application (the Application) in the Federal Court seeking a declaration that Facebook has contravened PIPEDA and various orders that would compel Facebook to bring itself into compliance. [1] Organizations governed by PIPEDA should keep a close eye on the Court’s inquiry as well as any eventual order enforcing compliance with the Act.… Continue Reading
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach, GeneralHappy Data Privacy Day! Data Privacy Day represents a timely opportunity to highlight anticipated significant developments in Canadian privacy law in 2020 that we are monitoring following two major developments from the Government of Canada.… Continue Reading
Posted in Compliance and risk management, Cybersecurity
This blogpost summarises our recent webinar: “An urgent message from Berlin: The importance of record retention in privacy and cybersecurity”.… Continue Reading
Posted in CybersecurityBoE publish high level findings of the financial sector (“sector”) cyber simulation exercise.… Continue Reading
