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On June 1, 2020, the California Attorney General submitted the final text of the CCPA Regulations to the California Office of Administrative Law (the “OAL”).  This was the last step the AG needed to take before the Regulations become enforceable.  But whether enforcement will still start on July 1, 2020 as set forth in the CCPA remains uncertain.

What does this mean for the timing of CCPA enforcement?

Some have questioned whether the AG’s delay in submitting the Regulations following the end of the last comment period in March signaled an intent by the AG to delay enforcement of the CCPA.  So far, however, there is no indication of any intended delay in either the AG’s press announcement regarding submission of the Final Regulations or his prior comments reiterating his intention to keep enforcement on track despite COVID-19.  Indeed, the AG requested expedited review of the Regulations by OAL in order to meet the July 1 deadline.

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Continue Reading AG Submits Final CCPA Regulations—Is Enforcement Still on Track for July 1, 2020?

Two weeks ago we wrote about proposed legislation, The COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act of 2020 (“CCDPA”), introduced by a group of senior Republican senators, which was designed to address privacy issues arising in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  In response, senior Democratic members of the Senate and House of Representatives introduced their own framework for protecting the privacy of individuals in light of the development of tools for tracking and containing the spread of the virus.

The Public Health Emergency Privacy Act

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Manufacturing, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee) and Mark Warner (D-VA) (Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee) lead a bicameral group of 10 lawmakers on a Democratic version of federal consumer privacy legislation as it relates to the coronavirus pandemic.  The Public Health Emergency Privacy Act (the “PHEPA”), introduced on May 14, seeks to give individuals protection and control over their covered health data by adopting an express affirmative consent regime, along with enumerated requirements for businesses. For a helpful summary of the key similarities and differences between the PHEPA and the CCDPA, please see the Chamber Technology Engagement Center’s (C_TEC) COVID-19 Privacy Bill Comparison Chart.

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Continue Reading Privacy vs. Containment, Part 2: The Democratic Answer to a Framework for Federal Privacy Legislation on COVID-19

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued various notifications of enforcement discretion related to compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations, discussed previously. However, OCR issued guidance on May 5, 2020, reminding covered healthcare providers that the HIPAA Privacy Rule remains in force during the COVID-19 public health crisis except as expressly relaxed under OCR’s prior guidance. Specifically, OCR’s most recent guidance addresses the disclosure of patient protected health information (PHI) to the media by allowing the media to film patients in facilities where PHI is accessible.
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Continue Reading OCR Warns Providers and Media: Patient Privacy Remains Protected Despite Pandemic

On March 11th, 2020, Virginia Governor Northam signed the Insurance Data Security Act (the “Act”) — HB 1334 — imposing requirements on all entities regulated by the Virginia Bureau of Insurance (“BOI” or the “Bureau”) to:

  • maintain an information security program,
  • investigate all cybersecurity events,
  • notify the Commissioner of Insurance of cybersecurity events, and
  • notify consumers affected by cybersecurity events.

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Continue Reading The Virginia Insurance Data Security Act – What You Need to Know

As the federal, state, and local governments and industry grapple with how to respond to and prevent the spread of COVID-19, a group of senior Republican senators recently announced consumer privacy legislation designed to protect personal “covered data” collected from consumers relating to personal health, geolocation, and proximity. The proposed legislation is a response to contact tracing solutions aimed at tracking the virus and those who may have been exposed to it.

The COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act of 2020

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who sits on both the Commerce and Judiciary Committees, introduced the COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act of 2020 (the “Act”) on May 7. According to the sponsors, the legislation is intended to provide consumers more transparency, choice, and control over the collection and use of their personal data, and to hold businesses accountable to consumers if these businesses use personal COVID-19-related data for purposes unrelated to the pandemic. As Subcommittee Chairman Moran stated, “while many businesses have taken well-intentioned steps to develop technological solutions to tracking, containing and ending the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress must address potentially harmful practices that could stem from these innovations if not held accountable.”

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Continue Reading Privacy vs. Containment: Federal Privacy Legislation Meets COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 42 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have adopted shelter-in-place or similar orders. As a result, more employees than ever before are working from home. This sudden increase in telework has created new challenges for employers, including balancing the need to protect their trade secrets and confidential information, with the need to ensure that employees can work effectively from home. This article discusses the unique risks to trade secret protection created by telework arrangements and suggests ways employers can mitigate those risks.
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Continue Reading Protecting Business Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic

While businesses grapple with the COVID-19 crisis, data privacy and data security regulation remains a pressing concern.  Some significant state laws regarding data privacy and security have gone into effect in 2020, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) (effective January 1, 2020) and the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (“SHIELD Act”) (effective March 21, 2020).  Regulator expectations for compliance with these new legal requirements seem immune from the virus that has placed strains on business operations and employees responsible for understanding and operationalizing new business processes to comply with these new legal requirements.

As resources are strained and employee focus is diverted to the evolving and unforeseen business demands in addressing COVID-19, the need for focus on data privacy and security appears even greater.  Read on for three data security and privacy recommendations when handling COVID-19 related disruptions to business.

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Continue Reading Three Cybersecurity and Privacy Recommendations When Navigating COVID-19

COVID-19 is delaying just about everything these days—except the CCPA.

In letters submitted on March 17 and March 20, a coalition of nearly sixty business and organizations called on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to temporarily defer CCPA enforcement by six months to January 2, 2021 due to COVID-19. The coalition, which spans a range of industries including tech, telecommunications, advertising, retail, insurance, transportation and real estate, argued that a deferral of enforcement would allow businesses to prioritize the needs of their workforce during the global pandemic. The coalition also pointed to the still-changing nature of the CCPA’s regulations as grounds for a temporary enforcement hiatus, contending that businesses need time to implement the final CCPA requirements.

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Continue Reading California Attorney General: CCPA Enforcement on Schedule Despite COVID-19

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued various guidance documents on compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its regulations. The topics include OCR’s discretion in enforcing HIPAA with respect to telehealth services, waiving hospital compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule in limited circumstances, and Privacy Rule compliance in the absence of specific waiver. The OCR guidance, discussed below, confirms that HIPAA still applies during the pandemic but compliance may be relaxed in certain situations to allow healthcare providers to respond effectively to the current public health emergency.
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Continue Reading HHS Limited Waiver and Guidance on HIPAA and the Privacy Rule During COVID-19 Pandemic

Here we go again.  On March 11, 2020, the California Attorney General (AG) published a second set of modifications to its Regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act.  Unlike the AG’s modifications from just last month, the substantive changes this time are not quite so numerous.  There are, however, a few provisions worth noting.

As a general matter, the most significant changes this time around consist of undoing some of the additions made in the first set of modifications.  There is also some new language in the Regulations that provides further guidance for businesses that do not directly collect personal information as well as businesses working to draft CCPA-compliant privacy policies.

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Continue Reading California Attorney General’s Second Set of Modified CCPA Regulations: Undoing, Redoing, Clarifying