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Feds Jumping Into Corporate Privacy and Cybersecurity Enforcement

By David Saunders and Julian L. André
January 01, 2022

It started as a hushed rumor in the beltway, then became a known fact by those going to join the administration. And now we all know: The Biden administration has brought with it a renewed focus on data privacy and cybersecurity.

Throughout the United States, companies have become fatigued by the fearmongering that has accompanied new privacy enforcement regimes; first the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for many, and then California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and now, so many others. And so the federal government making noise about privacy and cybersecurity enforcement may simply elicit a shoulder shrug. But allow this article to displace that complacency. The fact that the federal government is jumping with both feet into the privacy and cybersecurity enforcement arena is an event worth watching and heeding.

Perhaps the most worrisome part of this reinvigorated focus on privacy is that once a government investigation into a company begins, you never know where the investigation will lead. Given that federal agencies have broad authority to investigate and regularly coordinate with each other, an investigation you thought had nothing to do with privacy may all of a sudden look at your privacy practices. The federal government can appear at your doorstep at any time and in any context, and the resulting investigation could lead anywhere.

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