Posted by Megan Muir on April 11, 2012

Megan Muir.jpgCONTRIBUTED BY
Megan Muir
megan.muir@dlapiper.com 

As companies struggle to protect and safeguard personal information, managing the legal responsibilities related to processing personal data consistent with applicable laws is a growing challenge. A well-constructed and comprehensive compliance program can provide an effective risk-management tool. Our colleagues from the DLA Piper Information Law Team have published a handbook with an overview of the applicable privacy and data protection laws and regulations across 58 different jurisdictions, including a section on enforcement. Edited by Cameron Craig, Paul McCormack, Jim Halpert, Kate Lucente, and Arthur Cheuk, the DLA Piper 2011/2012 Data Protection Laws of the World Handbook is available here.

Posted by Megan Muir on March 21, 2012

Megan Muir.jpgCONTRIBUTED BY
Megan Muir
megan.muir@dlapiper.com 

Amendments to the European Union E-Privacy Directive, which was to be implemented by all EU member states by May 25, 2011, imposed a requirement to obtain user consent to the use of cookies, with such consent on an 'opt-in' basis, rather than an 'opt-out' process. Over the past two years, EU member states have been implementing the directive. In this publication, our colleagues Cameron Craig and Paul McCormack summarize the status of the E-Privacy Directive and include a table containing detailed updates as to the manner in which various countries have implemented the law as of March 2012. 

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Posted by Megan Muir on March 18, 2012

CONTRIBUTED BY Jennifer Kashatus

Virtually every company maintains some personal information – your company might hold personal information about employees, customers, or both. The precise definition of personal information varies by state and/or statute, but, as a general matter, includes information that is capable of identifying a natural person such as (but not limited to) first name and/or initial plus last name, in combination with a postal address, social security number, driver’s license number or other state issued identification number, or financial account number, such as a bank account number or a credit card number.

Whatever personal information your company possesses, your company should take measures—and, in fact, may be required by law to take measures—to protect that information. To appropriately handle personal information and to protect one of your most valuable assets—information—take stock of the information that your company maintains as the starting point to getting your privacy house in order.

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Posted by Megan Muir on November 04, 2011

Megan Muir.jpgCONTRIBUTED BY
Megan Muir
megan.muir@dlapiper.com 

Courtesy of our DLA Piper colleagues Jim Halpert, Sydney M. White, Kate Lucente, and Haris H. Khan is a summary of the FTC's recent proposal for modifying the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule.  COPPA heavily regulates the collection, use and disclosure of personal information from online users who are known to be under 13 years old and from sites and online services targeted to this population.

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