Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On December 11, 2014, in response to a request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the use of CCTV in the EU should be strictly limited, and that the exemption for “personal or household activity” does not permit the use of a home CCTV camera that also films any public space.

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently announced a resolution agreement and $150,000 settlement with Anchorage Community Mental Health Services, Inc. (“ACHMS”) in connection with a data breach caused by malware. ACHMS, which provides nonprofit behavioral health care services in Alaska, experienced a breach in March 2012 that affected the electronic protected health information (“ePHI”) of 2,743 individuals. After ACHMS reported the breach to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), OCR investigated ACHMS and found several HIPAA Security Rule violations, including that ACHMS had failed to:

In a flurry of activity on cybersecurity in the waning days of the 113th Congress, Congress unexpectedly approved, largely without debate and by voice vote, four cybersecurity bills that: (1) clarify the role of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) in private-sector information sharing, (2) codify the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (“NIST”) cybersecurity framework, (3) reform oversight of federal information systems, and (4) enhance the cybersecurity workforce. The President is expected to sign all four bills. The approved legislation is somewhat limited as it largely codifies agency activity already underway. With many observers expecting little legislative activity on cybersecurity before the end of the year, however, that Congress has passed and sent major cybersecurity legislation to the White House for the first time in 12 years may signal Congress’ intent to address systems protection issues more thoroughly in the next Congress.

On December 9, 2014, a coalition of 23 global privacy authorities sent a letter to the operators of mobile application (“app”) marketplaces urging them to require privacy policies for all apps that collect personal information. Although the letter was addressed to seven specific app marketplaces, the letter notes that it is intended to apply to all companies that operate app marketplaces.

On December 10, 2014, the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “Department”) announced that it issued an industry guidance letter to all Department-regulated banking institutions that formally introduces the Department’s new cybersecurity preparedness assessment process. The letter announces the Department’s plans to expand its information technology examination procedures to increase focus on cybersecurity, which will become a regular, ongoing part of the Department’s bank examination process.

On December 8, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “ Working Party”) and the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) organized the European Data Governance Forum, an international conference centered around the theme of privacy, innovation and surveillance in Europe. The conference concluded with the presentation of a Joint Statement adopted by the Working Party during its plenary meeting on November 25, 2014.

On December 5, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) published a Working Document on surveillance, electronic communications and national security. The Working Party (which is comprised of the national data protection authorities (“DPAs”) of each of the 28 EU Member States) regularly publishes guidance on the application and interpretation of EU data protection law. Although its views are not legally binding, they are strongly indicative of the way in which EU data protection law is likely to be enforced.

The Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams (the “Centre”) has published a second white paper in its multi-year Privacy Risk Framework Project entitled The Role of Risk in Data Protection. This paper follows the earlier white paper from June 2014 entitled A Risk-based Approach to Privacy: Improving Effectiveness in Practice.

On December 5, 2014, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) released an update on the implementation of the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (“Framework”). NIST issued the Framework earlier this year in February 2014 at the direction of President Obama’s February 2013 Critical Infrastructure Executive Order. The update is based on feedback NIST received in October at the 6th Cybersecurity Framework Workshop as well as from responses to an August Request for Information.

On November 26, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) released a Working Document providing a cooperation procedure for issuing common opinions on whether “contractual clauses” comply with the European Commission’s Model Clauses (the “Working Document”).