Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy Team

In March, we reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had submitted the HIPAA/HITECH Act Omnibus Final Rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Executive Order 12866, and that OMB had up to 90 days to review the rule under the Executive Order. In HHS’s May 2012 […]

On May 23, Illinois followed in Maryland’s footsteps to become the second state to pass a law prohibiting employers from asking employees or job applicants for their passwords to social networking websites. Although the Illinois governor must still approve the legislation before it goes into effect, approval seems imminent given the Illinois Senate’s unanimous passage […]

Today the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing entitled “The Need for Privacy Protections: Perspectives from the Administration and the Federal Trade Commission.” The hearing examined the need for privacy legislation and the recent privacy reports from the White House and the Federal Trade Commission. Testifying on behalf of the federal government were […]

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a slate of four cybersecurity bills as part of “Cyber Week.” Here is a brief recap of the House activity: On Thursday, April 26, the House approved H.R. 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, by a vote of 248-168. The final version of the bill included […]

Today the Obama Administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) opposing the principal House cybersecurity bill, HR 3523, CISPA (Rogers-Ruppersberger). It states (in its final sentence) that, “if HR 3523 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill.” As much discussed and pointed out in today’s House Rules Committee meeting, […]