Tag archives: data breach

Ontario Court of Appeal Limits Application of Tort of Intrusion Upon Seclusion for Cyberattacks

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose FulbrightIn three recent cases, the Court of Appeal for Ontario effectively curtailed the ability of privacy breach victims to advance claims under the tort of intrusion upon seclusion against organizations for failing to prevent unauthorized access to personal information by third parties. However, while these cases should provide some reassurance that a cyberattack may not … Continue reading

Rare recovery in a complex ransomware case: Major NetWalker arrest leads to significant asset seizure

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose FulbrightNorton Rose Fulbright Canada’s cyber litigation team recently obtained an order in favour of an insurer, granting it relief from forfeiture in respect of more than 11 bitcoins from the assets seized from a prolific ransomware gang.[1] This case was the first of its kind and confirms an insurer’s ability to seek recovery for losses … Continue reading

NYDFS settles with EyeMed for $4.5 million

On October 18, 2022, the New York Department of Financial Services announced a settlement with EyeMed, a licensed life, accident, and health insurer, with respect to a security incident that occurred in 2020.  The settlement claimed that EyeMed had committed seven violations of the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation, including failure to have an appropriate annual risk … Continue reading

Alberta OIPC’s 2022 PIPA Breach Report – Trends and Key Takeaways

On July 27, 2022, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC) released its 2022 PIPA Breach Report.[1] The report analyzes the nearly 2,000 breach reports[2] received by the OIPC during   the ten year period since reporting was mandated in Alberta under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)[3]. The PIPA Breach … Continue reading

Apply the law where breached servers are located?

On June 28, 2022, a federal trial court in South Carolina ruled that a group of consumers could proceed with common law negligence and gross negligence claims if they could meet the state law elements where the breached servers were located—in this case, Massachusetts.  In re Blackbaud, Inc. Customer Data Breach Litigation, Case No.: 3:20-mn-02972-JFA, … Continue reading

Who gets to decide to pay the ransom in a ransomware attack?

The onslaught of ransomware attacks since the pandemic began has not slowed.  Organizations have been faced with the task of continuously reviewing their cybersecurity programs to ensure they are following best practices to protect against ransomware groups.  But organizations also need to be prepared to respond to such an attack if their cybersecurity practices are … Continue reading

US banking regulators promulgate a final rule for 36-hour notice of breach

On November 18, 2021, the US federal banking regulators Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve Board and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation jointly announced a final rule that will require banking organizations (which includes the U.S. operations of foreign banking organizations) to notify their regulators as soon as possible but no later than 36 hours of … Continue reading

Customers Can Pursue Negligence Claims Directly Against Vendor

On October 19, 2021, a federal trial court in South Carolina ruled that a group of consumers could proceed with common law negligence and gross negligence claims directly against their organizations’ vendor that had been the victim of a security breach—instead of suing the organizations of which they were customers.  In re Blackbaud, Inc. Customer … Continue reading

Another One Bites the Dust: Court once again finds data breach forensic report isn’t protected by privilege

Norton Rose Fulbright - Data Protection Report blogOn July 22, 2021, a federal court in Pennsylvania held that an investigative report created by Kroll (the “Kroll Report”), the defendant’s third party cybersecurity consultant, and related communications were not protected by privilege. The court found that the Kroll Report was not protected by the work-product doctrine or attorney-client privilege. The decision comes after … Continue reading

US banking regulators propose a rule for 36-hour notice of breach

On December 18, 2020, the US Department of the Treasury (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) jointly announced a 53-page proposed rule that would require banks to notify their regulators within 36 hours of a “computer-security incident” that rises to the level of a “notification incident.” … Continue reading

New York’s Breach Law Amendments and New Security Requirements

Although California has recently captured the lion’s share of attention with respect to privacy and security, on October 23, 2019, New York’s amended security breach law goes into effect, and on March 1, 2020, new security safeguards go live (N.Y. S.B. 5575). Anyone with personal information about a New York resident is potentially affected by … Continue reading

New CNIL €400,000 fine for data security breaches and non-compliance with data retention period under the GDPR

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose FulbrightFollowing the now famous €50m fine imposed on Google LLC in January 2019,[1] the French Data Protection Authority (the CNIL) published a decision taken on 28 May 2019[2] imposing a fine of €400,000 on SERGIC, a company specialised in real estate development, purchase, sale, rental and property management.… Continue reading

First multi-million Euro GDPR fine: Google LLC fined €50 million under GDPR for transparency and consent infringements in relation to use of personal data for personalized ads

Norton Rose Fulbright - Data Protection Report blogOn January 21,2019 the French data protection authority (the CNIL) imposed a major fine on the U.S. Google entity, Google LLC.  It follows two complaints filed as soon as the GDPR came into force by two consumer rights associations, None of Your Business and La Quadrature du Net. We focus here on four key aspects … Continue reading

Transition period under New York Cybersecurity Regulation ends March 1, 2019

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose FulbrightThe two-year transitional period under the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Cybersecurity Regulation, 23 NYCRR 500 (the “Regulation”), will expire on March 1, 2019, with the final remaining requirement becoming effective. Entities covered by the Regulation that utilize third party service providers, which include not only banks and insurers, but also other … Continue reading

Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds common law duty for employers extends to protecting sensitive employee information

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose FulbrightOn November 21, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court broke new ground by holding that employers have a legal duty to take reasonable care to safeguard its employees’ sensitive personal information from cyberattacks. … Continue reading

Vicarious liability in the data breach context – bad news for UK employers?

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose FulbrightThe Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the High Court  holding that an employer can be vicariously liable for data breaches caused by the actions of an employee, even where the employee’s actions were specifically intended to harm the employer. This decision is significant as it means a company can be held liable … Continue reading

Lloyd v Google – putting the brakes on English data breach litigation?

Norton Rose Fulbright - Data Protection Report blogA judgment handed down today by the English High Court will be welcomed by UK data controllers. Lloyd v Google [2018] EWHC 2599 represents a corollary to recent case law expanding the circumstances in which litigation may be brought in relation to breaches of data protection legislation. Most notably, the case: reinforces the need for … Continue reading
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