Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On October 28, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it has joined the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (“GPEN”), a network of approximately 50 privacy enforcement authorities from around the world. The FCC is the second U.S. privacy enforcement authority to join GPEN. The other U.S. member, the Federal Trade Commission, helped establish the network in 2010.

The UK government has announced proposals designed to make it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) to fine companies responsible for nuisance calls and text messages. Under the proposals, the current maximum fine of £500,000 would remain unchanged, but the threshold for imposing fines would be lowered.

The Council of the European Union has published proposed revisions to the compliance obligations of data controllers and data processors included in Chapter IV of the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (“Regulation”). This proposal was led by the current Italian Presidency and the revisions reflect input from representatives of the national governments of the EU Member States.

On October 28, 2014, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the release of the second annual California Data Breach Report. The report provides information on data breaches reported to California’s Attorney General in 2012 and 2013. Overall, 167 breaches were reported by 136 different entities to California’s Attorney General in 2013. According to the report, 18.5 million records of California residents were compromised by these reported breaches, up more than 600 percent from the 2.6 million records compromised in 2012. In addition, the number of reported data breaches increased by 28 percent in 2013, rising from 131 in 2012 to 167 in 2013.

Eduardo Cunha, a congressman from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party in Rio de Janeiro, recently introduced a new bill in Brazil that provides Brazilians with a right to be forgotten (PL 7881/2014). Rep. Cunha is one of the most influential congressmen in Brazil and has been reported likely to be the next Speaker of the Brazilian House of Representatives (also translated as the “Chamber of Deputies”).

On October 22, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced that several interrelated online marketing and advertising companies (“Stipulating Defendants”) agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle allegations that they engaged in a pattern of text message spamming, robocalling and mobile cramming practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

On October 10, 2014, TD Bank, N.A. entered into an assurance of voluntary compliance (“Assurance”) with a multistate group of nine attorneys general to settle allegations that the company violated state consumer protection and personal information safeguards laws in connection with a 2012 data breach. The breach involved the loss of two unencrypted backup tapes containing the personal information of approximately 260,000 customers. The Assurance requires TD Bank to pay $850,000 to the attorneys general.

On October 20, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced a finalized rule that enables certain financial institutions to comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB”) by publishing their financial privacy notices online instead of mailing them to their customers. The GLB Privacy Rule requires financial institutions to provide privacy notices to their customers on an annual basis. The new disclosure method only applies to financial institutions regulated by the CFPB and does not impact those entities regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission or Federal Trade Commission.

On October 9, 2014, the 88th Conference of the German Data Protection Commissioners concluded in Hamburg. This biannual conference provides a private forum for all German state data protection authorities (“DPAs”) and the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information to share their views on current data protection issues, discuss relevant cases and adopt resolutions aimed at harmonizing how data protection law is applied across Germany. During the conference, several resolutions concerning privacy were adopted.

On October 17, 2014, the White House announced that the President signed a new executive order focused on cybersecurity.  The signed executive order, entitled Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions (the “Order”), is focused on securing consumer transactions and sensitive personal data handled by the U.S. Federal Government.