The City of Portland, Oregon becomes the first city in the United States to ban the use of facial recognition technologies in the private sector citing, among other things, a lack of standards for the technology and wide ranges in accuracy and error rates that differ by race and gender. Failure to comply can be
More EEOC COVID-19 Guidance: Testing, Screening, Managers, Confidentiality, and Telework
Since March of this year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released guidance on a near-monthly basis addressing various FAQs concerning COVID-19 issues. The guidance has focused on disability-related inquiries, confidentiality, hiring, and reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as issues under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Will the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act Make it into the Next Stimulus Package?
Despite several attempts, Congress has struggled to push forward a federal consumer privacy law over the past few years. But the COVID-19 pandemic, which has raised concerns regarding location monitoring, GPS tracking and use of health data, has heightened the urgency for federal consumer privacy legislation. In May, a group of Democrats from the U.S.
New Ransomware Tactics and Strains Emerge, Including Public Auctions of Stolen Data
As many have learned over the last several years, ransomware is a type of malware that denies affected users access to critical data by encrypting it. Attackers profit handsomely by requiring victims to pay substantial sums, typically tendered in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. A look at some of the numbers over the past two
EEOC Issues Guidance on Antibody Testing in the Workplace
In late-March and April 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released guidance addressing various questions with answers concerning COVID-19 and related workplace disability-related issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Recently, on June 17th, EEOC updated its guidance to include a new question regarding antibody testing.
Most of the questions concern
OCR’s Relaxed Enforcement of HIPAA During COVID-19 Paves The Way For Increase in Telehealth Services
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the country, doctors, dentists, therapists and other healthcare providers have turned to telehealth use with their patients by way of videoconferencing applications such as Zoom, Skype and WebEx. The Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Health and Human Services (“OCR”) defines telehealth as “the use
Zooming In on Remote Depositions during COVID-19 Pandemic
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, fully remote depositions have become necessary and employment lawyers are quickly adjusting. Below are some areas to consider when taking a remote deposition.
Technology
Court reporting services use various audio-video technologies, including Zoom, Cisco Webex, and other platforms, to connect participants in a remote deposition. Being comfortable on
Vermont Updates its Data Breach Notification Law
As the COVID-19 pandemic presses on, privacy and security matters continue to be at the forefront for federal and state legislature. We recently reported that Washington D.C. updated its data breach notification law. Now, the Vermont legislature also amended its data breach notification law, with significant overhauls including expansion of its definition of personal information,
Addressing the COVID19 Risks of Your Third-Party Service Providers and Vendors
States are reopening – find out which ones here. As they do, organizations will begin and/or continue adhering to a complex set of distancing, screening, capacity, sanitization, mask, posting, reporting, and other guidelines designed to maintain COVID19 curve flattening efforts. For organizations with operations in multiple states, the patchwork of federal, state, and local
California AG Urges Consumers to be Vigilant While Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic
With California’s mandatory COVID-19 stay-at home orders impacting some 40 million people by forcing the vast majority of them to connect remotely to work, go to school, order necessities, socialize and do many other things, California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra recently issued an alert reminding consumers of their privacy rights and to encourage them to