December 2013

By Anna Kraus

On December 27, 2013, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a HIPAA settlement with Adult & Pediatric Dermatology, P.C. (APDerm), a private dermatology practice with locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  According to HHS, this is the first settlement based on a

Earlier today, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued an interim rule that seeks to clarify when a contractor may use a non-U.S. manufactured photovoltaic (PV) device in certain government contracts.  The rule offers guidance to contractors in determining whether a PV device qualifies as a permissible “designated country” device, explaining that the test should focus

Safeway agreed in settlement of a lawsuit brought by visually-impaired customers in California and Washington State to ensure that its website, which allows people to order groceries online and have them delivered to their homes, is accessible to persons with disabilities.  Safeway has already made significant enhancements to its online shopping website to meet the

By Maria-Martina Yalamova & Mark Young
On 12 December 2013, the Advocate General (“AG”) to the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”), Mr Cruz Villalón, gave an opinion that the EU’s Data Retention Directive 2006/24/EC (the “Directive”) violates the fundamental right to privacy in the EU.  His reason, in short, is that

In light of growing concerns over cybersecurity and evolving technology and operational practices, Ofcom (the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries) is seeking views on whether its existing guidance on network security should be revised.  Interested parties have until 21 February 2014 to respond.   Depending on the responses received, Ofcom intends

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing entitled, “What Information Do Data Brokers Have on Consumers, and How Do They Use It?”   Committee members expressed interest in bringing about greater transparency to what information is collected by data brokers and how it is used at the hearing, which consisted