There have been several recent data protection actions by state attorneys general across the United States, which is the subject of “Update on State Attorneys General: Connecticut Creates a Permanent Privacy Department; NAAG Covers Big Data, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Computing; and States Amend Breach Laws,” a post on Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog written by attorneys Divonne Smoyer and Christine Czuprynski. These actions include:

  • Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen announced on March 11, 2015 that the privacy task force he appointed in 2011 will become a permanent Privacy and Data Security Department, which will handle investigations and litigation relating to data privacy and security.
  • The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Southern Region Meeting, which concluded on March 13, 2015, featured presentations on big data, cybersecurity, cloud computing and data breaches (including the proposal for a national data breach notification law). In addition, a NAAG presidential initiative summit will be held in mid-April in Biloxi, MS, with agenda topics to include intellectual property theft, cloud computing and digital currency.
  • Following in the footsteps of attorneys general in New York and Oregon, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has proposed several amendments to his state’s current data breach notification law that would expand the scope of requirements in an effort to increase consumer protection.

State attorneys general are focusing a significant amount of attention on issues relating to data privacy and security, and continued action on this front is to be expected.

To read the full post, click here.