Yesterday (May 20, 2020), Apple and Google launched software that will allow public health authorities to create mobile applications that notify people when they may have come in contact with people who have confirmed cases of COVID-19, while purportedly preserving privacy around identifying information and location data. People who have updated
Today, Senators Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act (“PHEPA”) into the Senate. A companion house bill was introduced by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Suzan DelBene (D-WA), which was co-sponsored by Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), G.K. Butterfield (D-NY), and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA). This and similar
On May 1, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced House Resolution 6666, the COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (“TRACE”) Act. The resolution, sponsored by Bobby Rush (D-IL) would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19 to trace and monitor the
As they had previously announced their intent to do so, the leadership of several Senate Committees introduced the “COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act” on May 7, 2020.
The Act would:
On April 30, 2020, U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, John Thune (R-SD) chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, Jerry Moran (R-KS), chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security, and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), announced plans
On March 18, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) announced steps to ensure that operators of the bulk electric system can focus resources on safety and reliability during the COVID-19 emergency. FERC and NERC are advising all registered entities that they will consider the impact of
As more and more businesses send their employees home to self-quarantine and work remotely as part of their COVID-19 mitigation measures, it is important to remember that working remotely carries with it unique data privacy and security concerns of which everyone should be aware. The following are a few tips for employers and employees to
According to a Bloomberg article posted earlier this morning, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (“HHS”) suffered a cyber attack on its computer systems Sunday night. The attack appears to have been intended to slow the agency’s systems, but was unable to do so in any meaningful way. Just before midnight, the National Security
