PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

Cartoon: GDPR Change in Privacy Notices

Cartoon GDPR Privacy Notice Change - TeachPrivacy GDPR Training 02 medium

In the past few weeks, with enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) beginning on May 25, countless organizations launched emails and pop up notices about changes in their privacy notices in light of GDPR.  This cartoon pokes a little fun at the blizzard of changed privacy notice notices.

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Cartoon: Devils of Data Security

Cartoon Devils of Security - TeachPrivacy Security Awareness Training 02 medium

I hope you enjoy my latest cartoon about data security — a twist on the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other.  Humans are the weakest link for data security.  Attempts to control people with surveillance or lots of technological restrictions often backfire.  I believe that the most effective solution is to train people.  It’s not perfect, but if training is done right, it can make a meaningful difference.

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Cartoon: The Post-GDPR World

Cartoon Post-GDPR World - TeachPrivacy GDPR Training 02 meidum

This is a momentous week.  On Friday, May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will begin being enforced. Organizations are racing against the clock to be prepared.  What will the day look like when the sun rises on May 25?

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GDPR Humor: A Collection of GDPR Cartoons and More

GDPR Humor - TeachPrivacy GDPR Training 02

Feeling stressed out about GDPR?  I can help!  Here are all of my GDPR cartoons and attempts at GDPR humor in one post.  It’s much better to laugh than to cry . . .

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Cartoon: The Four Phases of Developing a GDPR Program

Cartoon Four Phases of GDPR Program - TeachPrivacy GDPR Training

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has actually been with us for quite a long time (in various forms), but this month is the moment of truth.  On May 25, the GDPR will start being enforced.

Here’s a quick timeline of the evolution of the GDPR:

October 1995:  Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) is adopted.  The majority of the rules of the GDPR are the same or similar to those of the Data Protection Directive. Thus, much of the GDPR has been with us for more than 20 years.

January 2012: First Draft of GDPR is released.

March 2014: European Parliament votes to support the GDPR.

December 2015: The Trilogue (EU Commission, European Parliament, and EU Council of Ministers) reaches an agreement about the GDPR.

April 2016: European Parliament and Council of the EU formally adopt the GDPR.  There will be a 2-year grace period until the GDPR is enforced.

May 2018: GDPR enforcement begins on May 25.

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Prime Time for Privacy

Prime Time for Privacy 01

Over at Bloomberg Law, I have a short essay entitled Prime Time for Privacy.  From the essay:

The GDPR is a tremendous step forward for the privacy profession, but the maturity of the profession is what makes GDPR compliance possible.

The privacy profession serves a profound societal role. This is the profession that will help shape the future of privacy and guide the development of technology in ethical ways. With the rapid growth of technology, the privacy profession is more essential than ever. This is the profession that thinks about the human consequences of technology and how to bring the dizzying uses of data under control. Privacy professionals are on the front lines of shaping the data-drenched world we’re racing to construct. This profession will affect our lives and our society in profound ways in the years to come.

Read the full essay over at Bloomberg Law.

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Why I Love the GDPR: 10 Reasons

GDPR Love 01

I have a confession to make, one that is difficult to fess up to on the US side of the pond: I love the GDPR.

There, I said it. . .

In the United States, a common refrain about GDPR is that it is unreasonable, unworkable, an insane piece of legislation that doesn’t understand how the Internet works, and a dinosaur romping around in the Digital Age.

But the GDPR isn’t designed to be followed as precisely as one would build a rocket ship. It’s an aspirational law.  Although perfect compliance isn’t likely, the practical goal of the GDPR is for organizations to try hard, to get as much of the way there as possible.

The GDPR is the most profound privacy law of our generation.  Of course, it’s not perfect, but it has more packed into it than any other privacy law I’ve seen. The GDPR is quite majestic in its scope and ambition.  Rather than shy away from tough issues, rather than tiptoe cautiously, the GDPR tackles nearly everything.

Here are 10 reasons why I love the GDPR:

(1) Omnibus and Comprehensive

EU GDPRUnlike the law in the US, which is sectoral (each law focuses on specific economic sectors), the GDPR is omnibus – it sets a baseline of privacy protections for all personal data.

This baseline is important.  In the US, protection depends upon not just the type of data but the entities that hold it.  For example, HIPAA doesn’t protect all health data, only health data created or maintained by specific types of entities.  Health data people share with a health app, for example, might not be protected at all by HIPAA.  This is quite confusing to individuals.  In the EU, the baseline protections ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

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Will the FTC Remain a Leader on Privacy and Security?

FTC and Privacy and Security

In an unprecedented transition, the FTC just got a full slate of 5 new commissioners, three Republicans and two Democrats:

Joe Simons (Chairman) – R
Noah Phillips – R
Christine Wilson – R
Rohit Chopra – D
Rebecca Slaughter – D

FTC LogoIt is difficult to predict how the FTC will approach privacy.  The new commissioners will be inheriting some high-profile investigations (Equifax and Facebook), and they will also be inheriting the legacy of the FTC as serving as the leading privacy regulator in the United States.  There are some, such as Berin Szóka, who argue that the FTC’s power needs to be reigned in.   In contrast, I posit that just the opposite is in order: the FTC must pursue a bold enforcement agenda.

The reason is that we don’t live in an isolated world. The European Union (EU) has seized the scepter of leading regulator of multinational companies. Nearly every chief privacy officer at a large multinational company tells me that their focus is 90% or more on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — the massive and rigorous privacy regulation in the EU that will start being enforced on May 25 of this year.  Effectively, for many companies, the regulators they are paying attention to are across the pond.

The US shouldn’t let itself fade into irrelevance. For years, the FTC has been working to convince the EU that there really is meaningful privacy regulation in the US — and I believe that this effort made a difference.  Perhaps it didn’t convince all EU policymakers, but it definitely had an effect on some policymakers.  This was how the US was able to establish the Privacy Shield Framework, built in the smoldering ashes of the Safe Harbor Arrangement that the European Court of Justice demolished in one swift stroke.

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FERPA Whiteboard and FERPA Interactive Whiteboard

FERPA Whiteboard - TeachPrivacy FERPA Training

Recently, I created two new FERPA training resources.

FERPA Whiteboard

I created a 1-page visual summary of FERPA, which I call the FERPA WhiteboardThe idea was to summarize HIPAA in a concise and visually-engaging way.  You can download a PDF handout version here.  We’ve been licensing it to many organizations for training and awareness purposes.

FERPA Interactive Whiteboard

I subsequently created a new training module — an interactive version of the FERPA Whiteboard — the FERPA Interactive Whiteboard When people click on each topic, the program provides brief narrated background information, presented in a very understandable and memorable way.  Trainees can learn at their own pace.  This program is designed to be very short — it is about 5 minutes long.

It can readily be used on internal websites to raise awareness and teach basic information about FERPA.  It can also be used in learning management systems.

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Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Humanity’s Future: An Interview with Evan Selinger

Re engineering Humanity

Recently published by Cambridge University Press, Re-Engineering Humanity explores how artificial intelligence, automated decisionmaking, the increasing use of Big Data are shaping the future of humanity. This excellent interdisciplinary book is co-authored by Professors Evan Selinger and Brett Frischmann, and it critically examines three interrelated questions. Under what circumstances can using technology make us more like simple machines than actualized human beings? Why does the diminution of our human potential matter? What will it take to build a high-tech future that human beings can flourish in?  This is a book that will make you think about technology in a new and provocative way.

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