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Laurie Kamaiko
challenge for businesses in all sectors, from retail entities to educational institutions to utilities to companies in the insurance industry and even small companies who may have few employees and modest revenue but a large number of electronic records containing personal information of individuals. We are actively involved with companies in all business sectors, ranging from large financial and educational institutions, to sophisticated technology and energy companies, to small companies, to small charities and not-for-profits, some with primarily local operations and others with a global footprint. These days, however, most companies, no matter what their size, have information on their systems about residents of countries around the world, thus triggering potential issues of compliance with requirements of many different jurisdictions. We work with companies in each of these sectors on policies and procedures for data security and breach response, vendor contracts, and training for compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. We often work with clients on technology outsourcing transactions, and the key challenge with these contracts is to ensure that there is an appropriate allocation of risk at the same time as ensuring that there is a workable contractual relationship. A major part of this allocation of risk revolves around dealing with vendor agreements with indemnity and security obligations, and having appropriate insurance in place.
Q
Richard Graham
Are there any recent legislative changes that you are particularly interested in or concerned about?
In both the US and in the EU, there have been recent developments in the area of privacy and data protection, with more on the horizon. On 25 January 2012, the EU formally released the proposed EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation. This Regulation will implement a comprehensive reform of European data protection laws intended to strengthen online privacy rights and boost Europe’s digital economy. It seeks to take into account the realities of modern data flows, particularly in the light of the increased use of cloud computing. Whilst it will take some time before the Regulations take effect, it will have significant implications for all organisations targeting business in the EU. Among other important changes, this development will bring a more onerous, US-style
regime of data
response requirements to companies that collect data from residents in the EU. In the US, in addition to the existing
regulatory and statutory requirements that exist on a local, state and national level, and the growing number of regulatory enforcement and court
Contact: www.edwardswildman.com
Ted Augustinos
actions addressing companies’ responsibilities for data security and notifications, we expect some form of additional federal legislation related to data security requirements and notification in the event of a breach. A goal of most of the pending proposals is to try to standardise what is currently a fairly burdensome, sometimes conflicting set of state and federal agency requirements for data security and notification of individuals and agencies when a breach occurs. Of course, none of the proposals we’ve seen would completely standardise the process, but federal legislation in this area would be an improvement.
Q
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Our Privacy and Data Protection Group produces a comprehensive paper, “Everyone’s Nightmare: Privacy and Data Breach Risks” which we regularly update. The paper discusses legal and regulatory data security and breach notification developments, exposures presented by data breaches, recent court decisions, and lines of insurance potentially impacted – it is very useful for both US and EU clients. A copy of the latest edition of the paper can be obtained by emailing us at PrivacyWhitePaper@edwardswildman.com.
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