Privacy

In this heady atmosphere, law firms risk succumbing to the temptation — indeed, the seeming necessity — to exploit to the hilt the Internet's huge upside — its massive growth and profit potential — while neglecting its huge downside: its immense threats to data security.

In a newsworthy case in which retail giant Amazon and social media developer Foursquare Labs, among others, submitted friend of the court briefs, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed decisions which denied Facebook's motion to quash warrants issued to it by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and denied Facebook's motion to compel disclosure of the district attorney's supporting affidavit to its warrant application.

The Repeal May Open Up ISPs to Future Legal Challenges on How and When They Can Sell Their Customer's Private Data

While the recent repeal of the Federal Communications Commissions' (FCC) broadband privacy rules have caused an uproar over what many may see as lagging federal data privacy protections, it does little to change how broadband ISPs handle their users' data.

The FCC's move to stop Internet service providers from collecting customers' personal information without consent has itself been halted. The Senate voted 50-48 on March 24 to overturn the rules, with the House expected to follow suit.

Every day, billions of mobile and Internet-enabled computers, smartphones, watches, drones and even coffee machines are collecting vast amounts of geolocation…

Any company operating globally should protect its value through exposure containment under both privacy shield and the forthcoming GDPR.

If your company maintains operations in the European Union or is U.S. based but obtaining personal data from European citizens, you will need to strongly consider obtaining certification under the new Privacy Shield framework. Certification began in August 2016, and will make compliance with EU privacy laws when transferring data to the U.S. possible for the immediate future.

With so many warnings to lawyers about transmitting unsecured email and attachments, it can be difficult to understand the solutions available and how they differ. Some may improve security but make communications cumbersome. If too cumbersome, users seek a way to work around them or choose less powerful tools.