Repeal of planned FCC privacy rules leave ISPs largely unregulated

FCC-FTC Privacy

Internet service providers have few practical restrictions on how they handle their customers’ information and are subject to substantially fewer regulations than web content providers, e-commerce companies, and technology firms whose users rely on those same ISPs.

Hopes for better privacy protection in CISA depend on conference committee reconciliation

Privacy advocates and industry groups oppose the new legislation for many of the same reasons that led to the demise of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), but in the wake of a seemingly unending string of major data breaches and cyber intrusions, it appears likely that Congress will get a bill to the the president for signature.

European Court ruling invalidates Safe Harbor

The ruling is implicitly a declaration that, by permitting access to European citizens’ personal data by the NSA or other government agencies that most certainly do not adhere to core EC privacy principles, the U.S. violates the onward transfer principle and essentially negotiated the safe harbor framework in bad faith.

Subpoena? Court order? Search warrant? How the government can get your data

After a full 11-judge en banc panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed a ruling made last June by a 3-judge panel of the same Court, deciding that government law enforcement…

Lawsuit for improper access to medical records faces many challenges

In a legal action noted by several privacy-minded observers, a woman in Cabell County, West Virginia filed suit in March against health care provider Marshall Health (the collective name for a group of clinical centers affiliated…

HealthCare.gov shares consumer data with lots of third parties

Information provided by users of the government’s HealthCare.gov website is automatically collected and sent to more than a dozen third-party companies, including online advertising and social media sites.

Canadian court finds privacy protections apply to personal data stored on employer-owned computer

As reported by the Globe and Mail earlier this week, a Canadian provincial court ruled that personal information stored by employees on employer-provided computers is protected by Canadian privacy laws, and the information cannot be given…