On February 12, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that, after a review of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (“CAN-SPAM”) Rule as part of its periodic review of its regulations, it has determined that the Rule does not need to be modified at this time.…

The European Data Protection Board (“Board”) released an opinion on January 23, 2019, on the intersection between the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the Clinical Trials Regulation (“CTR”).  The opinion considers a Q&A on this topic prepared by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health.  The Directorate General decided to create this Q&A because of perceived contradictions between the GDPR and the CTR, in particular in relation to the legal basis (e.g., the…

On February 1, 2019, China’s National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee (“TC260”) released a set of amendments to GB/T 35273-2017 Information Technology – Personal Information Security Specification (“the Standard”) for public comment.  The comment period ends on March 3. Although not legally binding, the Standard has been highly influential since becoming effective in May 2018, as it set out the best practices expected by Chinese regulators (see our previous blogpost on the Standard here).…

Hospitals and other health care organizations are attractive targets for cyber-attacks, in part because their databases contain medical records and other sensitive information. Breaches of this information could have very serious implications for patients.  Moreover, electronics connected to a health care facility’s network keep people alive, distribute medicines, and monitor vital signs. As a result, disruption to the operations of health care facilities could pose a very real risk to health and safety.  Such risks…

On January 25, 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court published its widely anticipated decision in Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation et al., addressing the question of what it means to be an “aggrieved” person under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14/1 et seq. (“BIPA”). Under BIPA, aggrieved persons are entitled to seek liquidated damages and injunctive relief. In a unanimous decision authored by Chief Judge Karmeier, the court held that individuals seeking…

On January 24, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted a report (“Report”) regarding the second annual review of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (“Privacy Shield”).  In a press release accompanying the Report, the EDPB welcomed efforts by EU and U.S. authorities to implement the Privacy Shield,  including in particular the recent appointment of a permanent Ombudsperson.  But the EDPB also noted that certain concerns remain with respect to the implementation of the Privacy Shield. The…