Following recent Senate testimony in which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman proposed additional Congressional oversight for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Colorado Senator Michael Bennet has re-introduced the Digital Platform Commission Act, a bill that would enable the creation of a federal agency to oversee the use of AI by digital platforms. The proposed
Philip N. Yannella
yannellap@ballardspahr.com | 215.864.8180 | view full bio
As Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr's Privacy and Data Security Group, and Practice Leader of the firm's E-Discovery and Data Management Group, Philip N. Yannella provides clients with 360-degree advice on the transfer, storage, and use of digital information.
Phil regularly advises clients on the Stored Communications Act (SCA), Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), EU-US Privacy Shield, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Defense of Trade Secrets Act, PCI-DSS, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Regulations, ISO 27001 compliance, HIPAA Security Rules, and FTC enforcement activity, as well as eDiscovery issues—leveraging his experience serving as National Discovery Counsel for more than two dozen companies in nationwide litigation. He harnesses his deep knowledge of privacy, data security, and information governance laws to help multinational companies develop global information governance programs to comply with overlapping, and sometimes conflicting, laws. Phil serves on the advisory board for the ACC Foundation's Cybersecurity Survey, the largest survey of in-house counsel on cybersecurity issues.
Washington State Poised to Pass Consumer Health Privacy Law
The State of Washington appears close to enacting a new law that regulates the privacy of consumer health information. If passed, the new law – the My Health My Data Act (MHMDA) –would take effect March 31, 2024 and apply to non-governmental entities that collect, process, share, or sell health information that can be linked…
Webinar Recording – Artificial Intelligence: An Overview of the U.S. and EU Regulatory Landscape
The emergence of tools like ChatGPT has demonstrated the tremendous business potential for artificial intelligence. At the same time, businesses need to be aware of the growing patchwork of laws and regulations in the U.S. and EU governing the development and use of AI. In this webinar, Ballard Spahr privacy & data security lawyers…
The Iowa Senate and House Pass a Consumer Data Privacy Rights Bill
On March 15, 2023, the Iowa House passed Senate Bill 262 on a 97-0 vote. The Bill had previously passed the Iowa Senate on March 6, 2023. If ultimately signed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa would join California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia as the sixth U.S. state with a comprehensive consumer data privacy…
Managing Legal Issues From the Use of ChatGPT and Generative AI
The AI application ChatGPT quickly became a household name, but already is morphing into a more advanced version of generative AI. At the same time, Microsoft’s redesigned Bing search engine will soon run on a new, next-generation OpenAI large language model. While these tools have demonstrated that generative AI has tremendous operational and business potential…
Webinar Recording – 2023 Preview for Privacy and Data Security
2022 proved to be an historic year for privacy and data security, and 2023 is likely to follow suit. With privacy compliance deadlines looming under three state laws, a surge in data privacy litigation, new federal cyber-regulations, new state laws governing children’s data and new EU legislation regulating digital services – privacy lawyers will…
Heightened Cybersecurity Requirements for Medical Devices Passed Into Law
Many privacy professional may have missed it, but In the run-up to the New Year — while many U.S. companies were focused on complying with the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) — Congress passed an appropriations bill that contains significant new cybersecurity requirements for medical device companies. The Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which was signed…
2023 Privacy and Data Security Preview

2022 proved to be an historic year for privacy and data security. Connecticut and Utah joined the list of states that have now passed comprehensive data privacy laws, bringing the total to five (5) states. For the first time, federal privacy legislation advanced to a House Subcommittee, and though the American Data Privacy and Protection…
Privacy, Cybersecurity and Access to Beneficial Ownership Information: FinCEN Issues Notice of Proposed Regulations Under the Corporate Transparency Act

A Deep Dive Into FinCEN’s Latest Proposals Under the CTA
On December 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a 54-page notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding access by authorized recipients to beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) that will be reported to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The CTA requires covered entities –…
Pennsylvania Amends Data Breach Notification Law
In early November, Pennsylvania amended its data breach notification law broadening the definition of personal information. The amendment adds “health insurance information” and “medical information” as data elements that could trigger breach notification requirements. Coupled with this addition is a breach notification exception for businesses that are (1) subject to and (2) in compliance with…