PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

Employers and Schools that Demand Account Passwords and the Future of Cloud Privacy

by Daniel J. Solove In 2012, the media erupted with news about employers demanding employees provide them with their social media passwords so the employers could access their accounts. This news took many people by surprise, and it set off a firestorm of public outrage. It even sparked a significant legislative response in the states. […]

Clearing Up the Fog of Cloud Service Agreements

Contracting with cloud service providers has long been a world shrouded in fog. Across various organizations, cloud service agreements (CSAs) are all over the place, and often many people entering into these contracts have no idea what provisions they should have to protect their data.

Attorney Confidentiality, Cybersecurity, and the Cloud

Law firm data security

There is a significant degree of confusion and lack of awareness about attorney confidentiality and cybersecurity obligations.  This issue is especially acute when it comes to using the cloud to store privileged documents.  A common myth is that storing privileged documents in the cloud is a breach of attorney-client confidentiality.  In other instances, many attorneys […]

Modernizing Electronic Surveillance Law

By Daniel J. Solove Next year, there will be a milestone birthday for the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) – the primary federal law that regulates how the government and private parties can monitor people’s Internet use, wiretap their communications, peruse their email, gain access to their files, and much more. This is no ordinary […]

Lessons from the Latest HIPAA Enforcement Action

HIPAA Training OCR Enforcement

by Daniel J. Solove Recently, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) publicized its resolution agreement in its HIPAA enforcement action against St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (SEMC).  SEMC agreed to pay $218,000. The case began with a complaint filed with OCR back in 2012 that employees […]

Follow Professor Solove on Social Media

If you are interested in privacy and data security issues, there are many great ways Professor Solove can help you stay informed: Professor Solove’s LinkedIn Influencer blog You can follow Professor Solove on his blog at LinkedIn, where he is an “LinkedIn Influencer.”  He blogs about various privacy and data security issues. His blog has […]

Big Data and Our Children’s Future: On Reforming FERPA

by Daniel J. Solove Last week, the White House released its report, Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values. My reaction to it is mixed. The report mentions some concerns about privacy with Big Data and suggests some reforms, but everything is stated so mildly, in a way designed to please everyone. The report is painted […]

Our Privacy and Data Security Depend Upon Contracts Between Organizations

by Daniel J. Solove Increasingly, companies, hospitals, schools, and other organizations are using cloud service providers (and also other third party data service providers) to store and process the personal data of their customers, patients, clients, and others. When an entity shares people’s personal data with a cloud service provider, this data is protected in […]

The Battle for Leadership in Education Privacy Law: Will California Seize the Throne?

by Daniel J. Solove This post was co-authored by Professor Paul Schwartz, Berkeley Law School. Education was one of the first areas where privacy was regulated by a federal statute. Passed in the early 1970s, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was on the frontier of federal privacy regulation. But now it is […]

Duties When Contracting with Data Service Providers

by Daniel J. Solove In the world of data protection, it’s an old story: Personal data gets shared with a third party data service provider, and then something goes wrong at the provider. Whose fault is it? The organization that shared the personal data with the vendor certainly has responsibility, as organizations are generally responsible […]