Everyone should be aware that October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. TechNewsWorld is urging all users to “Own IT,” which “means staying safe on social media, updating privacy settings, and keeping tabs on apps. Simply put, users need to take better ownership of their data and their online presence as part of daily safe cyber practices.” One of the problems the authors see, and with which I agree, is that “people tend to share too…

Last week was a busy week for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as Attorney General Xavier Becerra released draft regulations on October 10 and Governor Newsom signed several pending CCPA amendments into law on October 11.  The CCPA amendments clarified several important issues, including: employee information and business-to-business (B2B) communications are exempt from the CCPA until January 1, 2021; the definition of personal information includes information that is “reasonably” capable of being associated with…

The Federal Bureau of Investigations Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) recently issued a public service announcement warning private companies about the increasing numbers of ransomware attacks affecting private industry. According to the warning, “Although state and local governments have been particularly visible targets for ransomware attacks, ransomware actors have also targeted health care organizations, industrial companies, and the transportation sector.” The ransomware attacks are initiated through “large scale or targeted phishing campaigns and exploiting software…

Elite Dental Associates (Elite), located in Dallas, Texas has agreed to settle alleged HIPAA violations with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for $10,000. The OCR alleged that it received a complaint from a patient in June of 2016 that Elite had disclosed the patient’s last name and details of the patient’s health condition on social media. After an investigation, the OCR “found that Elite had impermissibly disclosed the protected health information (PHI) of multiple…

While we’ve discussed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) at length, Nevada was busy amending its internet privacy law and in the process beat California’s deadline for the effective date by three months. Nevada’s SB 220 is effective as of October 1, 2019. This law prevents covered operators from selling individual’s personal information and allows consumers to submit verified requests to a business to exercise their opt-out rights. Covered operators must start accepting these requests…

The ADA was enacted in 1990 to prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities. It did not include express rules about access to websites and mobile apps. But that hasn’t stopped a flood of lawsuits against companies based on claims their websites or mobile apps might not be accessible to people with disabilities, such as visual, hearing or limited manual dexterity. According to UsableNet, a technology and accessibility company, nearly 2000 ADA-related lawsuits are expected to…