It is summer and you just finished all the hard work to make sure your organization addressed all applicable California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA or the “Act”) requirements.  You sit down, take a deep breath, and see what California has been up to during your CCPA preparations.  Well, lo and behold, California wants to give the nation’s most aggressive data protection law a facelift in a new ballot initiative to be voted on this November.…

Just a friendly reminder from the Taft Law Privacy and Data Security Practice Group that the Attorney General of California will commence enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) on July 1, 2020. While we have all understandably been focused on the many important issues of this year, both personally and professionally, let us not forget that the Attorney General of California explicitly declined to extend the enforcement date due to COVID-19 for…

Like so many companies navigating the challenges and changes demanded by COVID-19, we at Taft have had to move our entire workforce home while maintaining a high level of support for our employees and clients. Whether in crisis, design, or other business strategy, companies should carefully and methodically approach the transition of its employees, equipment, and data to a remote environment. Such an approach should be followed in all such moves, whether temporary or permanent.…

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. While the proverb may be a stretch for now, the latest lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU) against Clearview AI certainly shows that good intentions, when acted upon, may have unintended consequences. Technology utilized in the name of public protection—whether from global pandemics or criminal activity—can have disastrous effects when it comes to civil liberties and privacy. The ACLU filed a lawsuit …

Businesses in all industries and of all sizes are collecting data about their customers, potential clients, and workforce. This collection can be as simple as processing credit cards for purchases or gathering data about consumer behavior on websites or social media platforms, or can include a robust collection of sensitive financial, location, or health information. In the event that an incident occurs, a business is obligated to respond quickly to address the pitfall and potentially…

Losing a job and struggling with finances have added significant stress to those trying to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is no secret that for weeks, state departments administering unemployment compensation have been under fire due to massive backlogs of unprocessed claims. Adding to claimants’ frustrations are a number of security incidents affecting several states’ agencies. We previously reported that the Small Business Administration experienced a breach compromising personal data for thousands of…

For years, the idea of a federal privacy law in the same vein as GDPR seemed to be a far-fetched dream.  Then came the nightmare: coronavirus.  As mobile device and other monitoring services are being considered for employers and retail, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Senate announced a bill, which would apply to the collection of American health, geolocation, and proximity information. The COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act (the “Act”) aims to heighten…