The recently announced multistate settlement between credit reporting company Equifax Inc. and the Attorneys General of 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (the AGs) demonstrates the increasingly active role of state regulators in policing the privacy and security practices of businesses that handle consumers’ personal information. The multistate settlement is part of … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a joint state-and-federal initiative, “Operation Call It Quits,” which targets illegal telemarketing practices that violate the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). The TSR, which applies to interstate telephonic marketing communications intended to “induce the purchase of goods or services or a charitable contribution,” makes it illegal to engage in “abusive” acts and … Continue Reading
With the passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act but no clear federal consumer privacy law on the imminent horizon, state Attorneys General (AGs) continue to investigate and analyze how best to protect their consumers. To further that goal, the National Association of Attorneys General hosted a panel entitled Emerging Issues in the Data Economy … Continue Reading
Check out this month’s edition of The Privacy Advisor, a publication of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), for Divonne Smoyer and Kimberly Chow’s Q&A with North Carolina Attorney General (AG) Josh Stein. Throughout his tenure as AG, Stein has shown a clear commitment to data privacy and security through his advocacy for strong … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be holding a series of hearings this fall on “Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century,” with the goal of reflecting on the agency’s powers, and state attorneys general (AGs) want to make sure their voices are heard. A bipartisan group of 29 state AGs filed comments with … Continue Reading
Arizona and its Attorney General’s office have emerged as key players in the effort to prioritize data security on the national stage. Since his inauguration in 2015, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has struck a balance between supporting innovation and protecting Arizonans’ privacy rights. With the support of Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona is taking active … Continue Reading
Check out this month’s edition of The Privacy Advisor, a publication of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), for Divonne Smoyer and Kimberly Chow’s Q&A with Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill. AG Hill has prioritized rolling back federal overreach and safeguarding consumers from fraud and scams, along with continuing to take a hard line … Continue Reading
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is leading a coalition of 32 attorneys general (AGs’) in opposition to federal preemption in the area of data breaches, identity theft, and data security. Specifically, the group wrote a bipartisan letter on March 19, 2018, to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services and the Subcommittee on … Continue Reading
The International Association of Privacy Professionals and Reed Smith’s Washington, D.C. office co-hosted the Association’s KnowledgeNet Chapter meeting, “Key Federal and State Regulatory and Enforcement Trends in Privacy to Watch in 2018 – Direct from the Regulators” on February 27, 2018. Reed Smith partner Divonne Smoyer moderated a panel discussion featuring Utah Attorney General Sean … Continue Reading
Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Maura Healey has announced that the state will offer an online portal where businesses can more easily report that they have experienced a data breach. Massachusetts will also offer consumers an electronic database to view reported breaches, similar to the online repositories operated by California, Maryland and other states. Affected companies … Continue Reading
Check out this month’s edition of The Privacy Advisor, a publication of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), for Divonne Smoyer and Kimberly Chow’s Q&A with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. AG Reyes is well known as a bipartisan thought leader among AGs on the issues of privacy and cybersecurity. In the interview, he … Continue Reading
Check out this month’s edition of The Privacy Advisor, a publication of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), for Divonne Smoyer and Kimberly Chow’s Q&A with Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel. AG Schimel has prioritized cybercrime enforcement and prevention for the state. In the interview, he discusses his data privacy and security agenda as … Continue Reading
A panel at a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General highlighted data breaches and privacy in the context of new technology, signalling that state regulators are focused on consumer protection in this area. The panel at the Southern Regional Meeting in Charlottesville on April 4 was devoted to emerging technologies, privacy concerns, and … Continue Reading
With the election of current California Attorney General Kamala Harris to the U.S. Senate, Governor Jerry Brown was tasked with appointing her replacement. On December 1, he announced that his pick is U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, head of the House Democratic caucus. Becerra was first elected to the House in 1992 and has also served … Continue Reading
Attorney General Maura Healey of Massachusetts has held her office since January 2015. Massachusetts has established itself as being on the cutting edge of data privacy regulations that call for robust written information security program and computer system requirements, and the attorney general’s office continues to be on the forefront of enforcement since its security … Continue Reading
On 12 May, the Advocate General’s (AG) opinion in Case C-582/14 Patrick Breyer v Germany was released, stating that dynamic IP addresses should be considered personal data for the purposes of EU data protection law. Although opinions of the AG are not binding on the Court of Justice of the European Union, whose full judgment … Continue Reading
Attorney General Karl Racine is the District of Columbia’s first elected AG, a position in which he has served since January 2015. General Racine has a deep background in both public service and the private practice of law. As AG, he has quickly earned a reputation as a thought leader among his fellow AGs in … Continue Reading
On July 7, 2015, attorneys general from 47 states and territories sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to consider federal data breach notification legislation that does not preempt the states. The move comes on the heels of a data breach announcement made by the Office of Personnel Management, and renewed interest on the … Continue Reading
The federal government may be pushing a cybersecurity and data privacy agenda, but that doesn’t mean that the states are taking a back seat. The state attorneys general are maintaining their focus on issues relating to privacy and data security and expanding the scope of that focus to address the ever-evolving nature of those issues. … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Paul H. Cho. On May 21, 2014, the California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris, issued her long-awaited guidance for complying with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”). “Making Your Privacy Practices Public,” which can be found here, provides specific recommendations on how businesses are to comply with CalOPPA’s requirements to … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Frederick Lah. In early June, New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs brought a complaint against California-based mobile app developer 24×7 Digital LLC for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). The state alleged that 24×7 Digital, through its … Continue Reading
