As we reported earlier today, the long-awaited White House draft of privacy and data security legislation has been released. While the United States does not today have a comprehensive privacy and data security law, the proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights would impose a suite of substantive privacy and data security obligations across sectors
February 2015
White House Privacy Bill Is Released
The White House’s much anticipated draft privacy legislation has now been released. We are digesting its content now and will post an update with some additional comments shortly.
The draft appears to include an expansive definition of “personal data.” In addition, early press reports note that the draft bill would require companies to inform consumers and…
Wyndham Update: March 3rd Oral Argument Panel Revealed
The Third Circuit panel that will hear arguments in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. is comprised of Judges Thomas L. Ambro, Jane R. Roth and Anthony J. Scirica. Of the three, Judge Ambro is the most recent addition to the bench, having been appointed by President Clinton in 1999 and confirmed in 2000. Both Judges…
Study Shows Increase in Medical Identity Theft
This week, the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance (“MIFA”) released its 2014 Fifth Annual Study on Medical Identity Theft, finding that in the last year, medical identity theft incidents increased by 21.7% from 2013. The study is annually conducted to determine the pervasiveness of medical identity theft in the United States, how it affects the…
CMS Extends Meaningful Use Attestation Deadline to March 20 for Eligible Professionals
Yesterday, CMS extended the meaningful use attestation deadline for the 2014 reporting year for eligible professionals in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program from February 28 to March 20. In an email, CMS stated that it “extended the deadline to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data.” Medicare eligible professionals must attest to…
Bringing Copyright Office into 21st Century
By Allan Topol
The House Judiciary Committee has held some 20 hearings in the last two years as part of its comprehensive review of the copyright laws. Its hearing scheduled for this afternoon will focus on the functions and resources of the U.S. Copyright Office. In an opinion piece that appears in The Hill today, Covington’s Howard Berman…
CFTC Position Limits: Recent Congressional and Ongoing CFTC Developments
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed rule on position limits continues to be a priority for energy market participants, as both Congress and the CFTC are actively reviewing this issue. The final rule threatens well-established hedging and risk management practices related to the trading of futures and swaps by energy market participants.
Recently, the…
Wyndham: Third Circuit Requests Briefing on Whether FTC Declared Unreasonable Cybersecurity Practices Are ‘Unfair’
On February 20, the Third Circuit sent a letter to counsel in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., identifying at least one topic that will be addressed in the upcoming oral argument regarding the parties’ dispute over whether the FTC has the authority to regulate companies’ data security practices: whether unreasonable cybersecurity practices are “unfair.” The…
EU Advisory Board Clarifies Scope of Health Data in Apps and Devices
Our colleague Monika Kuschewsky recently published a post on the InsidePrivacy blog describing how the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (Working Party), an independent EU advisory body on data protection and privacy, responded to a request from the European Commission made in the framework of the Commission’s mHealth initiative to clarify the definition of data…
AT&T: FTC Lacks Jurisdiction Even Under “Activity-Based” Interpretation of the Common Carrier Exemption
Last week AT&T filed a Reply in support of its Motion to Dismiss challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) attempt to exercise jurisdiction over the company pursuant to Section 5 of the FTC Act.
As we previously reported, the FTC filed a complaint against AT&T alleging that the company misled consumers by reducing the…