Jetty Tielemans writes: At a recent presentation in Frankfurt, Peter Hustinx, head of the European Data Protection Supervisor Office in Brussels, launched an intriguing idea: sanctioning violations of data protection law in the same manner as violations of competition law. The trade press regularly reports on multi-million euro fines for cartels or abuses of dominant…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Cambridge Who’s Who attempt to block former employee from discussing alleged data loss fails in court
Occasionally, we find out about a data breach via court filings instead of notifications or media coverage. This is one of those times, it seems. As far as I can determine, the incident discussed in the court case was not reported to the NYS Consumer Protection Board by either Cambridge Who’s Who or Proactive Technology…
Data Resellers Liable for Downstream Security Failures
Leslie Fair of the FTC comments on recent settlements that were reported earlier this month: Of course, no legitimate business would put out a welcome mat for crooks. But as the FTC’s data security cases make clear, that’s the effect when companies fail to take reasonable steps to secure sensitive information in their possession —…
UK: Treasury does well out of local data breaches
Taxpayers’ money is being used to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds of fines imposed on councils for data protection breaches. In the past two months, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined councils more than £350,000 for falling foul of laws. Defending the decisions the ICO said the purpose of monetary penalties is to…
UK: Police officers and staff broke data laws 67 times in three years
Often, the only way we find out the scope of a problem is when the media or activists file a freedom of information request. Some data revealed thanks to a Freedom of Information request made by the Scunthorpe Telegraph: Humberside Police officers and staff breached data protection laws 67 times in the past three years,…
Identity Fraud Fell 28 Percent in 2010 According to New Javelin Strategy & Research Report
The 2011 Identity Survey Report, released today by Javelin Strategy & Research (www.javelinstrategy.com), reports that in 2010 the number of identity fraud victims decreased by 28 percent to 8.1 million adults in the United States, three million fewer victims than the prior year. Total annual fraud decreased from $56 billion to $37 billion, the smallest amount…