Pamela Jones Harbour

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What Companies Can Do to Protect Themselves in the Face of Yet Another Massive Data Breach

Last week it was reported that a small group of Russian computer hackers illegally obtained an unprecedented quantity of internet credentials, including 1.2 billion username and password combinations, and over 500 million unique email addresses. The compromised companies have not yet been identified, but it is believed that the information came from over 420,000 websites. … Continue Reading

FTC Testifies to Congress on Proposed Senate Geolocation Data Privacy Bill

By Pamela Jones Harbour and Jenna N. Felz on June 20, 2014 Posted in Geolocation

Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee for Privacy, Technology and the Law about proposed Senate Bill 2171, “The Location Privacy Protection Act of 2014 (LPPA).” The Act would prohibit companies from collecting or disclosing geolocation information from electronic communications devices without users’ consent. The Act would … Continue Reading

FTC Report Seeks Congressional Review of Data Broker Industry

By Pamela Jones Harbour, Erik Raven-Hansen, William W. Hellmuth and Jenna N. Felz on June 12, 2014 Posted in Big Data

As the advent of “big data” increasingly takes center stage in the data and privacy sphere, data brokers—companies that compile and resell or share consumers’ personal data—have come under increased scrutiny. On May 27, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a report titled “Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability,” as part of … Continue Reading

FTC Workshop Addresses New Data Privacy Issues Concerning Consumer Generated Health Data

By Pamela Jones Harbour, Erik Raven-Hansen and William W. Hellmuth on May 21, 2014 Posted in HIPAA/HITECH, Medical Privacy

On May 7, 2014, the FTC hosted the latest seminar in their Spring Privacy Series to address the status of Consumer Generated and Controlled Health Data and relate results of recent FTC studies on the topic. Consumers are embracing new technologies, particularly in the fitness domain and are generating vast amounts of “health data” both … Continue Reading

Big Data and Power Asymmetries: Recent White House Report Addresses Opportunities and Challenges Created by Increasingly Interconnected Technologies

By Pamela Jones Harbour, Erik Raven-Hansen and William W. Hellmuth on May 19, 2014 Posted in Big Data

In the latest round of reactions to the Edward Snowden leak, on May 1, 2014, the Obama Administration called for the United States to take a leading role in developing new standards for privacy protections in light of the ongoing “social, economic, and technological revolution.” In a report titled “Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values,” … Continue Reading

With OpenSSL Compromised by Heartbleed, an Opportunity for Companies to Diversify Cybersecurity Efforts

By Pamela Jones Harbour and Jenna N. Felz on April 14, 2014 Posted in Data Breaches, Information Security

The recent discovery of the “Heartbleed” online bug has sent shockwaves through the internet, causing companies and individuals alike to question very basic assumptions about cybersecurity. The bug has allegedly existed for the past two years and was only recently inadvertently discovered by the software developer Codenomicon. Heartbleed renders useless Open Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, … Continue Reading

The FTC Takes a Closer Look at Alternative Scoring Products

By Pamela Jones Harbour, Jenna N. Felz and Charles Shih on April 2, 2014 Posted in Online Privacy

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) hosted a panel discussion, in late March on “Alternative Scoring Products” as part its 2014 Spring Privacy Series, signaling the Commission’s increased attention on this burgeoning industry. The FTC has indicated that its “goal is to study what is happening in the alternative scoring space, what may be on the horizon … Continue Reading

Moving Towards a Global Harmonized Approach to Cross-Border Data Transfers?

By Pamela Jones Harbour on March 14, 2014 Posted in Information Governance, Information Security, International Privacy Law, Online Privacy

Today, data can be transferred around the world instantaneously, making the global marketplace seem almost borderless. As any multinational company knows, however, compliance with each country’s data transfer and privacy laws can be onerous. As the U.S. contemplates data protection legislation, the FTC last week announced a joint initiative with agency officials from the European … Continue Reading

Congress Steps Up its Scrutiny of Data Brokers

By Pamela Jones Harbour on February 17, 2014 Posted in Online Privacy

In keeping with Congress’s heightened focus on privacy practices in the data broker industry, Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would require increased transparency and accountability in the collection and sale of private consumer data. Describing data brokers as operating a “shadow industry” with “very little scrutiny and oversight,” … Continue Reading

FTC Reaches $32.5 Million Settlement Agreement with Apple, Inc. Over Deceptive Billing Practices in Mobile Apps for Children

By Pamela Jones Harbour on January 16, 2014 Posted in Mobile Privacy

The Federal Trade Commission announced its sizeable settlement agreement with Apple, Inc. on Wednesday, over allegations that the company had violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act by billing consumers millions of dollars for in-app purchases made by children on Apple devices without parental consent. Apple agreed to fully refund affected consumers, paying … Continue Reading

Careful! Your Company May Be a Defacto Data Broker: Are Privacy Regulators Going for Broke(rs) as part of the 2014 Legislative and Privacy Enforcement Agenda?

By Pamela Jones Harbour on January 10, 2014 Posted in Enforcement, Federal Legislation

Concerns about privacy practices in the data broker industry, and the privacy implications about the lack of transparency “behind-the-scenes,” will remain a topic of intense regulatory and legislative focus in 2014. The Federal Trade Commission has defined “data brokers” as companies that collect personal information about consumers from a variety of public and non-public sources … Continue Reading