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Company Had No Duty to Encrypt Personal Information on Stolen Laptop
A Minnesota district court recently found that a financial institution was not negligent for failing to encrypt personal information contained on a laptop computer that was stolen from an employee's home office. In Guin v. Brazos Higher Education Service Corp., the court dismissed the negligence action brought against a student loan provider by a customer. In granting the defendant's summary judgment motion, the court ruled that the company did not breach a duty of care under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ('GLB') to customers whose unencrypted data may have been contained on the laptop.
The decision has significant implications for financial institutions regulated by GLB. Faced with the novel argument that a financial institution breached its statutory duty of care established by GLB when it failed to encrypt personal information in its databases, the court found that GLB contains no such requirement. In a narrow interpretation of GLB's requirement that companies 'protect the security and confidentiality of customers' nonpublic personal information,' the court held that GLB does not require companies to encrypt personal information contained on company laptops. For financial institutions that feared a judicial mandate to encrypt their customer data or risk noncompliance with GLB, the decision comes as welcome relief.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.