Claire Rogers reports: A row is brewing over whether businesses should face criminal sanctions and fines if they fail to notify people of data breaches. The privacy commissioner is calling for notification of data breaches to be mandatory and for concealment to be made a crime. But Business New Zealand says criminal penalties would be…
Category: Legislation
Ca: Clement backs fines for data leaks
Sarah Schmidt reports: Industry Minister Tony Clement said Friday he’s open to the idea proposed by Canada’s privacy watchdog to give her the power to slap corporations with huge fines if they don’t protect the personal information of their customers. “I have not closed the door to it, but there would have to be additional…
Ca: Fines needed to help stem growing data breaches, Privacy Commissioner says
From the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: STRATFORD, Ontario, May 4, 2011 – An alarming trend of ever-bigger data breaches is prompting Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart to call for substantial fines against major corporations that fail to adequately protect Canadians’ personal information from preventable breaches. “I am deeply troubled by the large number…
California and Massachusetts Legislatures Push Data Breach and Security Bills
Jason C. Gavejian writes: In distinct efforts to strengthen data security requirements, the California and Massachusetts legislatures recently passed bills affecting data breach notification requirements and data security notification, respectively. On April 14, 2011, the California senate approved S.B. 24, requiring California businesses and agencies to notify the state attorney general if more than 500 California…
Sony Declines to Testify at Congressional Hearing
Nick Bilton reports: Sony has declined to testify at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, “The Threat of Data Theft to American Consumers,” that seeks to understand how consumers’ private data is protected by corporations. […] The subcommittee sent a letter to Sony on Friday asking the company to answer a number of questions related to the…
Ninth Circuit Holds That Violating Any Employer Restriction on Computer Use “Exceeds Authorized Access” (Making It a Federal Crime)
Orin Kerr writes: I had though the world was safe from the nuttiness of the Justice Department’s broad theories of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the Lori Drew case. Not so. Readers may recall I once blogged about a similar case, United States v. Nosal, that raised similar issues in the context of an employee…