The prevailing wisdom after last year’s enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was that it would result in other states enacting consumer privacy legislation. The perceived inevitability of a “50-state solution to privacy” motivated businesses previously opposed to federal privacy legislation to push for its enactment. With state legislatures now convening, we have identified what could be the first such proposed legislation in New York Senate Bill 224.

The proposed legislation is not nearly as extensive as the CCPA and is perhaps more analogous to California’s Shine the Light Law. The proposed legislation would require a “business that retains a customer’s personal information [to] make available to the customer free of charge access to, or copies of, all of the customer’s personal information retained by the business.” It also would require businesses that disclose customer personal information to third parties to disclose certain information to customers about the third parties and the personal information that is shared. Businesses would have to provide this information within 30 days of a customer request and for a twelve-month lookback period. The rights also would have to be disclosed in online privacy notices. Notably, the bill would create a private right of action for violations of its provisions.

We will continue to monitor this legislation and any other proposed legislation.

As we turn the page on 2018, let’s reflect on some of the key privacy and cybersecurity issues that will continue to occupy our hearts and minds in 2019.

Owning the Mega-Breach

2018 was the year in which data breaches in mergers and acquisitions became the iceberg in full view. This fuller realization of cyber risk in transactions, though, actually has its origin in September 2016 – when Yahoo and Marriott were in the midst of deals that would involve some of the largest data breaches on record. Continue Reading Some Thoughts on the Year in Privacy and Data Security Law

Just in case you needed a reminder that the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) will go into effect on January 1, 2020, the California Department of Justice announced that it will hold six statewide forums to collect feedback from stakeholders as part of its duty to promulgate regulations “that will establish procedures to facilitate consumers’ rights.” The meetings will be held between January 8, 2019 and February 15, 2019. Further information is available at https://www.oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa. The California Department of Justice also is accepting comments via email and mail. Members of Ballard Spahr’s privacy and data security practice group are already regularly assisting clients in complying with the CCPA and are available to consult on any written comments that entities may be considering.

A relatively quiet year for HIPAA enforcement is ending with a small flourish.  The Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced two settlements with covered entities within the span of eight days.

The first settlement involved Advanced Care Hospitalists (ACH), a company that provides internal medicine physicians to hospitals and nursing homes in Florida.  In 2014, ACH received notice from a local hospital that individually identifiable patient information had been posted on the website of a third party billing provider.  ACH reported the breach, which ultimately led to an HHS investigation. HHS found that:

  • The disclosure affected 9,225 patients.
  • ACH failed to enter into a business associate agreement with one or more vendors who had access to protected health information (PHI).
  • ACH did not implement privacy, security, or breach notification policies and procedures until after the breach was discovered.
  • ACH failed to conduct a security risk analysis until after the breach was discovered.

To settle these matters, ACH agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty and fulfill its obligations under a supervised corrective action plan that focuses on the identified failures.

The second settlement followed from a complaint lodged with HHS against Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC) in Colorado.   The ensuing investigation revealed:

  • The impermissible disclosure of the PHI of at least 557 individuals to a former employee whose access to PSMC’s information systems was not revoked upon termination of employment.
  • The impermissible disclosure of the PHI of at least 557 individuals to a business associate without an appropriate business associate agreement.

Continue Reading A Pair of Year-End HIPAA Settlements

Hold the date: Phil Yannella, Ballard Spahr partner and co-chair of the firm’s Privacy & Data Security Group, will participate in an ACC webcast on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 titled “The State of US State Privacy Laws.” The webcast will focus on the recent proliferation of US state privacy and data security laws, some of which provide for a private right of action, and discuss how companies can provide “reasonable” security to customer and employee data. You can register for the webcast here. 

 

Since the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) took effect on May 25, 2018, US companies without facilities or employees in Europe have struggled to understand the extraterritorial scope of the GDPR. Under Article 3(2), US companies without an “establishment” in the EU are required to comply with the GDPR where their processing activities relate to the “offering of goods or services” to EU data subjects or where they “monitor” the behavior of EU data subjects. The meaning of these concepts is a particularly vexing question for US companies that have a website accessible to Europeans or have some European customers, but lack a physical presence in the EU. Continue Reading EDPB Draft Guidelines on Extraterritorial Scope of the GDPR Provide Few Clear Answers for US Companies

pa SCT LOGO

On November 21, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court drastically changed the data breach litigation landscape by holding that an employer has a common law duty to use reasonable care to safeguard employees’ personal information stored on an Internet-accessible computer. The Court further held that Pennsylvania’s economic loss doctrine permits recovery for “purely pecuniary damages” on a negligence claim premised on a breach of such a duty. Continue Reading Pennsylvania Supreme Court Recognizes Common Law Duty to Safeguard Employees’ Personal Data

For good reason, there has been much discussion about the new privacy rights created by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), which becomes effective January 1, 2020. Perhaps one of the most significant provisions of the CCPA, though, will be one that has been somewhat overlooked: Section 1798.150, which provides for statutory damages of between $100 and $750 per consumer per incident for certain data breaches. Indeed, had California enacted Section 1798.150 alone, it would have garnered scores of articles on how its statutory damages remedy will likely lead to an explosion in “bet-the-company” private class action litigation over data breaches. The fact that it was enacted as just one provision in a first-in-the-nation privacy law has resulted in commentators spending less time analyzing its impact on businesses.

We will try to remedy this by taking a look at this provision and analyzing how it will apply to businesses covered by the CCPA. We begin by discussing existing California laws that are referenced in the CCPA’s private right of action. We then track the private right of action through its various forms, starting with the ballot measure and ending with its current version as reflected in Senate Bill 1121. Finally, we discuss how the private right of action likely will be used by private litigants and what steps businesses should take to avoid costly litigation. Continue Reading Analyzing the California Consumer Privacy Act’s Private Right of Action

The U.S. Supreme Court’s grant this week of the petition for certiorari in a case involving the Telephone Communication Protection Act (TCPA) prohibition on unsolicited fax advertisements could have significant implications for the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) anticipated ruling on what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the TCPA.

The petitioner in PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic sent a fax in 2013 to a West Virginia chiropractor offering a free copy of the Physicians’ Desk Reference. The chiropractor declined the offer and sued PDR in West Virginia federal court, alleging that PDR had violated the TCPA by sending it an unsolicited fax advertisement. PDR moved to dismiss, arguing that the fax was not an “unsolicited advertisement” because it offered the desk reference for free rather than for purchase. The chiropractor disagreed, arguing that the fax was an “unsolicited advertisement” because a 2006 FCC rule interpreted the term to include “facsimile messages that promote goods or services even at no cost.” Continue Reading SCOTUS Decision in Unsolicited Fax Case Could Have Broader TCPA Implications

On November 13, 2018, Ballard Spahr lawyers presented a webinar on the SEC’s recent “Report of Investigation” into “business email compromises” affecting public companies.

As noted in our prior blog post, the Report was prompted by the SEC’s investigation into whether nine public companies violated U.S. securities laws “by failing to have sufficient accounting controls” to prevent approximately $100 million in losses as a result of business email compromises targeting their personnel. The SEC investigated whether these companies violated Sections 13(b)(2)(B)(i) and (iii) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Although declining to pursue enforcement actions against the companies, the SEC emphasized its recent cybersecurity guidance, advising public companies that “[c]ybersecurity risk management policies and procedures are key elements of enterprise-wide risk management, including as it relates to compliance with federal securities laws.” (See our prior alert and blog post regarding the Interpretive Guidance). Continue Reading Listen to Our Webinar on “The SEC’s Special Report on Business Email Compromises: What It Means and What You Should Do”