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As reported in BNA Privacy Law Watch, a California legislative proposal would allocate additional resources to the California Attorney General’s office to facilitate the development of regulations required under the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). CCPA was enacted in June 2018 and takes effect January 1, 2020. CCPA requires the California Attorney General to issue certain regulations prior to the effective date, including, among others, (1) to update the categories of data that constitute “personal information” under CCPA, and (2) certain additional regulations governing compliance (such as how a business may verify a consumer’s request made pursuant to CCPA). The proposal, which was presented in two budget bills, would allocate $700,000 and five staff positions to the California Attorney General’s office to aid in the development of the required regulations. The legislature is expected to pass the relevant funding measure by August 31, 2018. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has stated that he expects his office will issue its final rules under CCPA in June 2019.

On August 13, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission approved changes to the video game industry’s safe harbor guidelines under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) Rule. COPPA’s “safe harbor” provision enables industry groups to propose self-regulatory guidelines regarding COPPA compliance for FTC approval.  Continue Reading FTC Approves Changes to Video Game Industry’s Safe Harbor Program Under COPPA

On August 3, 2018, California-based Unixiz Inc. (“Unixiz”) agreed to shut down its “i-Dressup” website pursuant to a consent order with the New Jersey Attorney General, which the company entered into to settle charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. The consent order also requires Unixiz to pay a civil penalty of $98,618. Continue Reading Unixiz Agrees to Settle Charges Under COPPA and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act

On July 19, 2018, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) announced that it served a formal notice to two advertising startups headquartered in France, FIDZUP and TEEMO. Both companies collect personal data from mobile phones via software development kit (“SDK”) tools integrated into the code of their partners’ mobile apps—even when the apps are not in use—and process the data to conduct marketing campaigns on mobile phones. Continue Reading CNIL Serves Formal Notice to Marketing Companies to Obtain User’s Consent for Processing Geolocation Data for Ad Targeting

On July 27, 2018, the Justice BN Srikrishna committee, formed by the Indian government in August 2017 with the goal of introducing a comprehensive data protection law in India, issued a report, A Free and Fair Digital Economy: Protecting Privacy, Empowering Indians (the “Committee Report”), and a draft data protection bill called the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 (the “Bill”). Noting that the Indian Supreme Court has recognized the right to privacy as a fundamental right, the Committee Report summarizes the existing data protection framework in India, and recommends that the government of India adopt a comprehensive data protection law such as that proposed in the Bill. Continue Reading India’s Draft on Data Privacy Law Issued Today

In its most recent cybersecurity newsletter, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) provided guidance regarding identifying vulnerabilities and mitigating the associated risks of software used to process electronic protected health information (“ePHI”). The guidance, along with additional resources identified by OCR, are outlined below: Continue Reading OCR Issues Guidance on Disclosures to Family, Friends and Others

On July 12, 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May presented her Brexit White Paper, “The Future Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the European Union,” (the “White Paper”) to Parliament. The White Paper outlines the UK’s desired future relationship with the EU post-Brexit, and includes within its scope important data protection-related issues, including digital trade, data flows, cooperation for the development of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), and the role of the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), as further discussed below: Continue Reading Brexit White Paper Addresses Data Protection-Related Issues

On June 27, 2018, the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China published the Draft Regulations on the Classified Protection of Cybersecurity (网络安全等级保护条例（征求意见稿）) (“Draft Regulation”) and is seeking comments from the public by July 27, 2018. Continue Reading China Publishes the Draft Regulations on the Classified Protection of Cybersecurity

On June 25, 2018, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) issued a final regulation (the “Regulation”) requiring consumer reporting agencies with “significant operations” in New York to (1) register with NYDFS for the first time and (2) comply with the NYDFS’s cybersecurity regulation. Under the Regulation, consumer reporting agencies that reported on 1,000 or more New York consumers in the preceding year are subject to these requirements, and must register with NYDFS on or before September 1, 2018. The deadline for consumer reporting agencies to come into compliance with the cybersecurity regulation is November 1, 2018. In a statement, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “Oversight of credit reporting agencies ensures that the personal private information of New Yorkers is less vulnerable to the threat of cyber attacks, providing them with peace of mind about their financial future.”

On June 28, 2018, the Governor of California signed AB 375, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “Act”). The Act introduces key privacy requirements for businesses, and was passed quickly by California lawmakers in an effort to remove a ballot initiative of the same name from the November 6, 2018, statewide ballot. We previously reported on the relevant ballot initiative. The Act will take effect January 1, 2020. Continue Reading California Consumer Privacy Act Signed, Introduces Key Privacy Requirements for Businesses