If you are a regular user of online social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others, you want to check out a new research paper by a couple of researchers at AT&T Labs and Worcester Polytech that points to some disturbing evidence of the “leakage” of personally identifiable information from the social networking sites… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Lawsuit Filed to Block New Maine Marketing Law
Posted in LegislationAs expected, a lawsuit was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine seeking to block enforcement of the controversial new Maine marketing law we discussed in this blog last month. The plaintiffs are the Maine Independent Colleges Association, Maine Press Association, NetChoice, and publisher Reed Elsevier, Inc. NetChoice is a coalition… Continue Reading
Privacy and Security Bits and Bytes
Posted in Data BreachOur Friday afternoon feature – No Anonymity — This week’s ruling by the New York State Supreme Court that resulted in the “outing” of a blogger who made unfavorable comments about a Canadian model has online privacy groups reacting to the “skank” case No Sale of Data for Clear – To update earlier posts here… Continue Reading
Changes to the Massachusetts Data Security Regulations: What do they really mean?
Posted in LegislationNow that the dust has settled after this week’s “Breaking News” regarding the proposed changes to the Massachusetts data security regulations, here is an analysis of what the changes actually mean to the business community. Some other interesting commentary is linked below: Evan Schuman – Storefront Backtalk
Long-Awaited California Decision on Cameras in the Workplace
Posted in Employee PrivacyCalifornia Supreme Court has finally issued its decision in a workplace privacy case finding that an employer’s placement of a hidden camera in an office used by two employees did not violate the employees’ right to privacy. This case has drawn much attention as it worked its way through the appellate courts. My colleagues in… Continue Reading
BREAKING NEWS – Changes to 201 CMR 17.00
Posted in LegislationJust released – proposed amendments to the Massachusetts data security regulations — and a three-month extension of time to comply. Stay tuned for a full analysis.
Privacy and Security Bits and Bytes
Posted in Data BreachJust some nuggets to wrap up the week: Think about this as you speed through the E-Z Pass lanes this weekend….. Report Warns of Losing “Locational Privacy” Security Management – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has a new report out, as discussed in Security Management, about the issues of locational privacy. An interesting piece at… Continue Reading
To Encrypt or Not To Encrypt…….An Incentive Rather than a Mandate From Michigan
Posted in Data BreachAdd Michigan to the list of states that are proposing that adoption of comprehensive data security safeguards will provide a safe harbor for data breaches. The Information Security Program Standards Act introduced last week differs a bit from Massachusetts and Nevada (and other pending legislation) in that it would not require the implementation of detailed… Continue Reading
Data Breach du Jour ….
Posted in Data BreachThe Associated Press reports that American Express has notified some card-holders that their information may have been compromised. According to an American Express spokesperson, the breach resulted from an employee’s recent theft of data. In this tough economy, outside threats to personal information held by companies is not the end of the story. The possibility… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Data Security Standards vs. New HIPAA Guidelines
Posted in Data Compliance & SecurityHere’s a link to an article (by the author of this blog…) comparing the Massachusetts data security standards (effective January 1, 2010) to the Department of Health & Human Services Guidelines promulgated under the new HITECH Act (effective in mid-September). Compliance challenges are coming on all fronts — and it’s best not to duplicate… Continue Reading
Privacy and Security Bits and Bytes
Posted in Data Compliance & SecurityComing back from vacation and catching up on what’s been going on …. In case you are looking for something security-related to do in the month of August — check out the Internet Security Alliance Calendar of Events According to an InternetNews.com article, cookies may be back on the menu for U.S. Government web sites…. Continue Reading
