Since the end of 2018, the Federal Trade Commission has reportedly been considering how to strengthen the injunctive relief imposed in orders in data security cases. The FTC began its evaluation with a public hearing in December 2018 on data breaches and data breach assessments. Several months later, in March 2019, the Commission issued a statement explaining that it was examining the obligations in its orders in data security cases and mandating “new requirements” while “anticipat[ing] further refinements.” Thereafter, the FTC ultimately issued seven data security orders with specific data security practices and obligations that differed markedly from past orders.
Continue Reading
From the Expected to the Surprises: Highlights of SEC OCIE’s 2020 Priorities
On January 7, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) released its 2020 Examination Priorities (“2020 Priorities”). While at first blush the themes appear consistent with and predictable from their 2019 priorities, on closer read OCIE has provided some new insights and some unexpected focus areas. The themes for the 2020 Priorities are: retail investors, information security, financial technology (“Fintech”) and innovation (including digital assets and electronic investment advice), several areas covering registered investment advisers and investment companies, anti-money laundering, market infrastructure (clearing agencies, national securities exchanges, alternative trading systems, transfer agents), and oversight of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board programs and policies. OCIE also stressed the challenges it faced in light of last year’s government shutdown and resource constraints, as the Division of Enforcement did in its 2019 Annual Report (see our analysis here), and the challenges in examining non-U.S. advisers due to limits that foreign data protection and privacy laws may place on cross-border information transfers. In this post, we analyze the highlights in and our takeaways from the 2020 Priorities.
Continue Reading
French Regulator Fines Futura Internationale €500,000 for Infringements of the GDPR in Connection With Telephone Advertising Campaigns
On November 21, 2019, the French data protection authority (the “Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés” or “CNIL”) imposed a €500,000 fine on Futura Internationale, a midsized French company, for serious infringements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) in connection with cold calling campaigns.[1]
Continue Reading
The Way the Cookie Crumbles: CJEU Clarifies European Data Protection Rules for the Use of Cookies
On October 1, 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a decision outlining the requirements for a user to consent to a service provider’s use of cookies.[1], The Court held that active consent is required, and thus requiring a user to deselect a pre-checked tracking cookie notice in order to disallow the use of cookies does not sufficiently constitute consent to the collection and use of data under EU law.
Continue Reading
Latest FTC Data Privacy Settlement May Signal More Direct Approach to Regulating Data Security
On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) announced a proposed settlement with InfoTrax Systems, L.C. (“InfoTrax”), a third-party service provider, regarding multiple data security failures. As a result of these security shortcomings, a hacker accessed about one million consumers’ sensitive personal information after more than twenty intrusions into InfoTrax’s network. This settlement marks one of the first instances in which the FTC has alleged a violation of the FTC Act predicated solely upon the failure to maintain reasonable security measures by a third-party service provider. The settlement is also notable for a Commissioner’s concurring statement criticizing the settlement’s standard twenty-year term.
Continue Reading
Be Prepared: How to Proactively Account for Data Privacy
Have the right policies in place
– Ensure clear, readily accessible, and (where necessary) country-specific policies are in place indicating the permitted uses of company devices and other IT equipment, including messaging services. If you allow employees to use their own devices to perform work, make sure your policies adequately address issues of access in the context of investigations.
Continue Reading
Incorporating Data Privacy Considerations Into Investigations
Many investigations, particularly those that are cross-border in nature, are likely to present data privacy issues, and managing these issues is frequently a key consideration in an investigation. By keeping data privacy laws in mind as soon as an investigation starts, an organization will avoid the risk that it has failed to satisfy certain requirements, thereby exposing itself to the possibility of a fine or sanction from a regulator.
Continue Reading
The CCPA Takes Shape with Proposed Regulations, as Companies are Encouraged to Comply by January 1
The final version of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 is coming into view.
On October 10, California’s Attorney General released the long-anticipated draft regulations to implement the CCPA, and on October 12, the Governor signed into law five amendments to the CCPA passed during the 2019 legislative session. (We previously discussed the CCPA
SEC Files First Suit Against Alleged Unregistered Broker-Dealer Operating in Digital Asset Markets
On September 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed its first civil suit alleging violations of broker-dealer registration requirements in U.S. digital asset markets. In a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the SEC alleged that Defendants ICOBox and its founder, Nikolay Evdokimov, illegally conducted an unregistered public securities offering for their 2017 initial coin offering (“ICO”), and have operated an unregistered brokerage service facilitating the launch of ICOs in digital asset securities since 2017.
Continue Reading
Before You Press Send: Protecting Privilege and Complying With Limitations on Data Dissemination When Responding to an Investigative Request
One critical issue to consider in responding to an investigative request is whether by producing the requested data, the company will be waiving a privilege or violating legal confidentiality obligations, including data privacy restrictions.
Continue Reading