What is considered personal Identifiable Information under privacy laws?
Under privacy laws, personal Identifiable Information (PII) refers to information capable of being solely used, or combined with others, to identify, locate, or contact an individual. The United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)’s Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information defines PII as “information such…
Is Data Encryption More Secure or Less Secure?
In today’s world, almost nothing is secured. Everything you can think of, such as our lives, properties, and belongings, all need one form of security or the other. Even our digital properties/data – that are free from physical dangers – are not safe. This is where data encryption comes in….
Are Data Protection Officers Personally Liable for Data Breaches?
Under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), corporations are obligated to appoint DPOs – Data Protection Officers. These officers are, amongst other things, obligated to counsel their organization about GDPR regulatory best practices, and monitor internal compliance with GDPR rules. Importantly, they also function as contact points between…
How Patients’ Health Data are Protected (Part 2)
In the first part of this blog, we beamed our searchlight on the need for patient health data protection. We mentioned the proliferation of data encryption as a foremost measure for protecting sensitive health data. In this blog, we shall be examining other PHI protection measures, to wit: Data Protection…
How Patients’ Health Data Are Protected (Part 1)
No doubt, technology has proven to be a viable tool for radicalizing the way we hitherto did things. Sector-wide, IT solutions abound for the optimization of processes and methodologies. The health sector is not left out in this trend. But with IT adoption in the health sector comes security issues…
The US-UK Cloud Act Agreement in Brief (Part 2)
Like it was aptly mentioned in the first part of this blog, the US-UK Cloud Act Agreement was put together pursuant to the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use Data (CLOUD) Act of the United States. Being the first kind of Cloud agreement made by the US with another sovereign country, it’s…
Overview of The Washington Privacy Act 2019
Earlier this year, the upper legislative chamber of the State of Washington passed the Washington Privacy Act, one of the US’s supposed strongest consumer data privacy protection regulatory framework. The Act takes into consideration global data protection standards and best practices, as it seeks to strengthen the regime of consumer…
Should end-to-end encryption be banned?
Of late, issues surrounding data protection and security have come to the fore as data breaches, hacks become widespread. Varying interventions have been proffered and implemented by stakeholders to address this widespread plague. One such intervention is end-to-end encryption. End-to-end encryption refers to a system of communication where only the…
Do cell phones qualify as tracking devices under US privacy laws?
As of 2019, there were more cell phones than people in the world. This data shows how indispensable phones have become in our day-to-day life. Asides being used to exchange texts and calls, today’s cell phones perform an endless number of advanced communicative functions such as internet connectivity, sending and…
What To Do When Your Privacy Rights Are Breached
In a former article on legal rights to privacy, we discussed the accepted classes of rights in respect of data privacy. When we now talk of breach of privacy rights or privacy rights breaches, what is referred to are acts that translate to an invasion of privileges by those obliged…