By Porter Wright on On Tuesday May 4, a new privacy bill, known as the Boucher-Stearns Bill was released by Representative Rick Boucher, Democrat of Virginia, and Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida. If the bill were to become law, it would represent a dramatic shift in U.S. Privacy governance. To date, privacy regulation in the U.S. has generally fallen along industry lines such as (i) HIPAA’s regulation of a … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In January 2008, the Davidson Companies, a financial services holding company, announced that a database containing current and past customer records had been hacked during a SQL injection attack. On April 14, 2010—more than two years after the network intrusion—the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined the company $375,000 for the breach.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A new Massachusetts data security regulation — the “Standards for the Protection of Personal Information of Residents of the Commonwealth” (.PDF) — has gone into effect as of March 1, 2010. The new regulation is intended to apply to any business that collects or retains personal information of Massachusetts residents. Personal information, as defined under the regulation, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on According to an FTC press release on March 3, 2010 and as reported in various media outlet reports, like this one from The New York Times, LifeLock, Inc., an identity theft protection company, has agreed to pay $11 million to the Federal Trade Commission and $1 million to a group of 35 state attorneys general … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Having your laptop or smartphone searched or detained by Customs on your way back from a business trip would be a nightmare for most travelers, including bankers and other finance professionals. However, this scenario is quite possible under new governmental policies. In 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement … Continue Reading
