In issuing its decision in Braitberg v. Charter Communications, the Eighth Circuit recently became the first federal appellate court to issue a published opinion interpreting Spokeo and, as predicted, shows that the Supreme Court’s ruling will have a significant impact on the viability of privacy-related claims. In Braitberg, the plaintiff alleged that Charter indefinitely retained […]
Privacy
Austrian Supreme Court Refers Schrems Consumer Class Action to ECJ
Just under a year ago today, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its Schrems decision, which invalidated Safe Harbor and led to substantial developments in US-EU data-transfer mechanisms. In parallel to the ECJ Safe Harbor litigation, Mr. Schrems has maintained two further legal proceedings in the EU: (1) a challenge in the Irish courts […]
German DPAs to Create Model Processing Records for GDPR Compliance
On May 25, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enters into force. One of the major changes the GDPR introduces is a duty for in-scope controllers and processors to maintain written records of processing activities. Under Article 30 GDPR, companies will need to inventory all “processing activities under [their] responsibility” and memorialize them […]
Department of Commerce Announces First Privacy Shield Participants
Over the weekend, the Department of Commerce’s Privacy Shield website was updated to show the first participants in the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield. In total, about 45 companies have registered for Privacy Shield. Prominent examples include Microsoft Corp. (along with 20 subsidiaries), Salesforce, and corporate-travel giant World Travel, Inc. Companies with questions about Privacy Shield are […]
Advocate Health Care Network Agrees to Pay $5.55 Million to Settle Potential HIPAA Penalties
On August 4, 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that Advocate Health Care Network (“Advocate”), Illinois’ largest fully-integrated health care system, has agreed to pay a record-breaking $5.55 million to settle claims of multiple Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) violations involving electronic protected health information (“ePHI”). The substantial settlement stems from […]