Webinar | July 30.2019
Please join Heather Sussman, Barrie VanBrackle and David Curtis for the Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation practice’s webinar “Spotlight on Fintech – How the New California and Nevada Privacy Laws Will Impact Data in Fintech.”
On June 28, 2019, the German parliament (Bundestag) passed new legislation imposing several changes to the current German Federal Data Protection Act (“BDSG”). Although many of the changes addressed privacy aspects of criminal proceedings, the new legislation makes an important change for small companies by increasing the threshold to designate a Data Protection Officer (“DPO”). Whereas currently companies have to designate a DPO if they constantly employ at least 10 employees who deal with the automated processing of personal data, the new legislation increases the minimum number of employees from 10 to 20, significantly decreasing the financial and administrative burden for small companies doing business in Germany. This article explains the changes and their impact and explains what companies should do.
While the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) has inspired many states to consider their own consumer privacy bills, including Nevada which recently enacted a new law, not to be lost in the CCPA-focused frenzy is the fact that states continue to revise their data breach notification statutes. In recent weeks, the new Massachusetts breach notification amendment has gone into effect, New Jersey, Maryland, Oregon, Texas, and Washington have enacted their own breach notification amendments, and Illinois has proposed a bill that is poised to become law in the near term. READ MORE
Webinar (recording available) | June.25.2019
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Please join Heather Sussman and Matthew Coleman for the Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation practice’s webinar “California’s and Nevada’s New Privacy Laws – What Companies Need to Know.”
California was the first U.S. state to enact a sweeping new privacy law, known as the CCPA, with an effective date of January 2020. Nevada has now enacted a scaled-down version of the CCPA that is slated to take effect even sooner – as early as October 2019.
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Following in California’s footsteps, Nevada has passed a new privacy law providing consumers the right to opt out of the sale of their personal information. Senate Bill 220 (SB-220), signed into law by Governor Steve Sisolak on May 29, 2019, amends Nevada’s existing online privacy statute, NRS 603A.340, to include a requirement that online operators provide consumers with a means to opt out of the sale of specific personal information collected by websites or online services. The act goes into effect on October 1, 2019 – three months ahead of the January 1, 2020 effective date of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) – which may force companies to fast track implementation efforts for opt-out requests in particular. READ MORE
In an increasing trend, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) joined other federal regulators seeking to hold individuals – not just companies – liable in enforcement proceedings. The most recent target was San Francisco-based UrthBox, Inc. and its principal, Behnam Behrouzi. Specifically, Urthbox and Behrouzi agreed to settle FTC allegations that UrthBox engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices by: (1) failing to adequately disclose key terms of its “free trial” automatic renewal programs, and (2) misrepresenting that customer reviews were independent when, in fact, UrthBox provided customers with free products and other incentives to post positive reviews online.[1]
Privacy & Cybersecurity Litigation partner Michelle Visser, counsel David Cohen and associate Nicole Gelsomini authored this blog post for the Washington Legal Foundation on the unsettled state of the law on constitutional standing in privacy and cybersecurity cases in the wake of two recent Supreme Court developments. Constitutional standing challenges are, and will continue to be, an important potential tool for privacy and cybersecurity defendants seeking to dismiss certain class actions brought in federal court. To establish standing, a private plaintiff must show, among other things, that he or she faces an actual or imminent concrete injury from the defendant’s conduct. As explained in the Washington Legal Foundation post, however, the Supreme Court recently passed on two chances to clarify the test that will govern this standing inquiry, leaving defendants to wade through conflicting and ambiguous lower court precedent. The uncertain and nuanced state of this area of law underscores the importance of retaining experienced cybersecurity and privacy defense counsel when faced with this type of suit.
At the beginning of this month, more than 4,000 privacy professionals from around the globe gathered in Washington, D.C. for the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Global Privacy Summit 2019. The conference focused on lessons learned from the first year of GDPR enforcement in Europe, the expansion of European-style rights to more jurisdictions around the world, plans for addressing new obligations imposed by the CCPA in California, and the future of privacy law in the United States including whether federal legislature is likely or desired – especially in light of the CCPA and similar proposed legislation in states throughout the nation. READ MORE
Today, Orrick announced the launch of our automated CCPA Readiness Assessment Tool which helps businesses globally determine whether they are covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and, if yes, their readiness to comply with the new law that is revolutionizing the United States privacy landscape. This free tool is available to all organizations and takes 10-30 minutes to complete. It segments the CCPA into five workable themes and guides users through a series of dynamic questions relating to each theme. Upon completion of the questionnaire, the tool provides a free and comprehensive readiness assessment tailored to the business’s unique positioning and individual needs.
The Bavarian Data Protection Authority (“BDPA”) took the “safer internet day” in February 2019 as an opportunity to conduct privacy checks on website operators. The focus was on “cybersecurity” (in particular, password security) and “tracking” and the outcome is rather disillusioning, according to the BDPA. The BDPA stated that necessary security measures were not implemented and none of the cookie banners obtained valid consent. The BDPA announced it would conduct further checks via written procedures or even by on-site inspections to validate the quick check results and assess whether further actions must be taken. In those cases where the BDPA is not competent, the BDPA will consider reaching out to competent lead supervisory authorities where necessary so that they can provide their insights. READ MORE
