Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

Hunton & Williams LLP, in coordination with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, recently issued a report entitled Business Without Borders: The Importance of Cross-Border Data Transfers to Global Prosperity, highlighting the benefits of cross-border data transfers to businesses in the international marketplace. The report underscores the importance of developing data transfer mechanisms that protect privacy and facilitate the free-flow of data, and also explores opportunities for new data transfer regimes.

On May 12, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has approved final consent orders with two companies that marketed genetically customized nutrition supplements. In addition to charges that the companies’ claims regarding the effectiveness of their products were not sufficiently substantiated, the settlements also allege that the companies misrepresented their privacy and security practices. The two companies, Gene Link, Inc. (“Gene Link”) and foru™ International Corp. (“foru” – a former subsidiary of Gene Link), represented in their privacy policy that they had “taken every precaution to create a process that allows individuals to maintain the highest level of privacy” and that the companies’ third party service providers are “contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of the Personal Customer Information and are restricted from using such information in any way not expressly authorized” by the companies.

As reported in the Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives Blog:

On April 9, 2014, the Sixth Circuit of Appeals not only affirmed summary judgment in EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Education Corp., et al. but also chastised the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) for applying a flawed methodology in its attempts to prove that using credit checks as a pre-employment screen had an unlawful disparate impact against African-American applicants.

On May 13, 2014, the French data protection authority (“CNIL”) decided to examine 100 mobile apps most commonly used in France.

On May 7, 2014, IronBox Secure File Transfer hosted a webinar featuring “Queen of Breach” attorney Lisa Sotto, who shared her top tips in the event of a data breach. Lisa Sotto, partner and head of the Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hunton & Williams LLP, discussed the current cyber risk landscape and led participants through a hypothetical data breach scenario. She taught participants how to manage a data breach if the worst happens and provided key steps companies should take to prepare proactively for a cybersecurity event.

On May 12, 2014, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report highlighting the benefits of cross-border data transfers across all sectors of the economy. Hunton & Williams LLP’s Global Privacy and Cybersecurity team developed the report with the Chamber of Commerce. The report, Business Without Borders: The Importance of Cross-Border Data Transfers to Global Prosperity, presents pragmatic solutions for developing international mechanisms that both protect privacy and facilitate cross-border data flows.

On May 9, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with clothing manufacturer American Apparel related to charges that the company falsely claimed to comply with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. According to the FTC’s complaint, the company violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by deceptively representing, through statements in its privacy policy, that it held a current Safe Harbor certification even though it had allowed the certification to expire.

On May 8, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement with Snapchat, Inc. (“Snapchat”) stemming from allegations that the company’s privacy policy misrepresented its privacy and security practices, including how the Snapchat mobile app worked. Snapchat’s app supposedly allowed users to send and receive photo and video messages known as “snaps” that would “disappear forever” after a certain time period. The FTC alleged that, in fact, it was possible for recipients to save snaps indefinitely, regardless of the sender-designated expiration time.

Hunton & Williams LLP’s Centre for Information Policy Leadership president, Bojana Bellamy, has been selected to participate in the “Privacy Bridge Project,” a new transatlantic initiative that seeks to develop practical solutions to bridge the gap between European and U.S. privacy regimes. Bellamy joins a distinguished group of approximately 20 privacy experts from the EU and U.S., convened by Jacob Kohnstamm, Chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority and former Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party.

On May 7, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (“NYP”) and Columbia University (“CU”) agreed to collectively pay $4.8 million in the largest HIPAA settlement to date, to settle charges that they potentially violated the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules.