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Anthony Q. Le

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Anthony has a broad array of experiences assisting with compliance issues, regulatory and enforcement matters, internal investigations, and individual and class litigation. His diverse practice helps him achieve the most efficient and practical results for his clients spanning the financial services, technology, automobile, and retail sectors.

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In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, hackers are capitalizing on fears surrounding the outbreak by crafting COVID-19-themed attacks aimed to infect computers with malware or obtain sensitive, personal information.

For example, readers may be familiar with a popular interactive dashboard created by Johns Hopkins University using real-time data from the World Health Organization to track the spread of the virus. It has become a go-to source for many wishing to stay up to date on the virus. Recently hackers have circulated links via social media, email attachments and online advertisements to malicious websites that are disguised as the university’s COVID-19 map. However, the deceptive links open an applet that, when installed, infect the device with malware designed to steal personal data such as login credentials, banking information and other sensitive data. To ensure you are accessing the “real” COVID-19 map, directly access it through Johns Hopkins’ official home page, rather than clicking any unidentified links or searching the internet.Continue Reading Coronavirus Cyber Scams: Outbreak Map Used to Spread Malware and Cyber Attack Experienced by the HHS

In less than one month, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) will go into effect and begin a new era of data breach litigation. While the California Attorney General is charged with generally enforcing the state’s landmark privacy law, consumers’ ability to rely on a violation of the CCPA as a basis for violations of other state law statutes will be a concern.

For background, Section 1798.150(a)(1) of the CCPA gives consumers a limited private right of action. The provision allows consumers to sue businesses that fail to maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect “nonencrypted or nonredacted personal information” of a consumer and further fail to cure the breach within 30 days. A violation of this data security provision allows recovery of statutory damages of $100 to $750 per consumer per incident or actual damages, whichever is greater, as well as injunctive relief. To determine the appropriate amount of statutory damages, courts must analyze the circumstances of the case, including the number of violations, the nature, seriousness, willfulness, pattern, and length of the misconduct, and the defendant’s assets, liabilities, and net worth.Continue Reading CCPA Review: The CCPA May Prohibit Some, But Not All, State Consumer Protection Law Claims

This week, the California Attorney General held public hearings on the draft California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations it issued in October.  We attended the hearings in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.  One clear message resounded — unintended consequences of the proposed regulations if left as drafted.

Both hearings were well-attended, with dozens of comments from businesspeople, attorneys, and a handful of concerned citizens.  In addition to these two hearings, the Attorney General also held public hearings in Sacramento and Fresno, and is accepting written comments through Friday, December 6, 2019.  If the Los Angeles and San Francisco hearings are any indication, there are many areas in which the Attorney General could provide further clarity should it choose to revise the current draft regulations.Continue Reading California Attorney General’s Public Hearings on CCPA Regulations in Los Angeles and San Francisco—An Overview