Earlier last week, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 3696, a bill to amend the Homeland Security Act to make certain improvements regarding cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. The committee circulated the draft earlier this year, and had planned to mark up the bill when the Edward Snowden revelations became public. The bill […]
Board Governance & Cyber Risk Management
EU Data Protection Authorities Note Serious Reservations with Proposed General Data Protection Regulation
Several members of the Alston & Bird Privacy and Security Group attended the IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress held in Brussels this past week. Much of the discussion at the Congress centered on the proposed new General Data Protection Regulation (the “Regulation”), which if enacted would replace the European Union Privacy Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) in effect since […]
New Malaysian Data Privacy Law
After enactment in 2010, Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Act, and implementing regulations, finally went into effect on November 15, 2013. The law applies to the processing of “personal data” by entities operating in Malaysia but generally does not apply to data processed entirely outside of Malaysia.[1] Additionally, official registration requirements will extend to many classes […]
California’s New Privacy Law Covering Utility ‘Smart Meter’ Data Takes Effect on January 1, 2014
On January 1, 2014, California’s new “smart meter” privacy law goes into effect, which may impact Internet Service Providers, financial institutions and other businesses that handle or receive smart meter data. On October 5, 2013, California Governor Brown approved the law passed by the Assembly (A.B. 1274) that will require certain non-utility businesses to obtain the […]
Department of Defense Publishes Safeguarding Rule Requiring Contractors to Follow NIST Security Standards, Report Cybersecurity Incidents
On November 18, the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) published a final safeguarding rule (the “UCTI Safeguarding Rule”) applicable to contractors in possession of unclassified yet nonpublic technical information (“UCTI”) that requires them to, at a minimum, satisfy the security controls specified in NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-53 in order to safeguard UCTI. Additionally, the UCTI Safeguarding […]