The Baden-Württemberg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (LfDI) has imposed a fine of €1,240,000 on the AOK Baden-Württemberg health insurance provider. The reason? Data processing errors related to prize draws it ran: the health insurance provider had not obtained the valid consent for data processing of prize draw entrants in 500 cases. An internal whistleblower notified the LfDI about the breach ...
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has issued guidelines on data protection in work from home (WFH) arrangements (NPC PHE Bulletin No. 12 on “Protecting Personal Data in a Work from Home Arrangement; issued May 15, 2020). The full text of the guidelines can be found here: https://www.privacy.gov.ph/2020/05/npc-phe-bulletin-no-12-protecting-personal-data-in-a-work-from-home-arrangement/ ...
Damage Insurance - Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. - Canada Hidden Defect, Reduction in the Purchase Price and Liability Insurance Coverage On June 2, 2010, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed the Superior Court’s decision (per Justice Gill es Hébert), which dismissed the insured’s action in warranty against his liability insurer under his home owner’s policy ...
The D.C. Circuit recently rejected a qui tam relator’s attempt to dodge the FCA’s first-to-file bar by amending his complaint. United States ex rel. Shea v. Cellco P’ship, 863 F.3d 923 (D.C. Cir. 2017). The panel’s correct interpretation of the first-to-file bar stymies relators’ ability to keep copycat FCA suits in court. The relator, a telecommunications industry consultant, filed a qui tam suit against Verizon Communications, Inc. in 2007 ...
A year ago, President Obama issued Executive Order 13636, or "Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity." The order concerned "critical infrastructure," which it defined as "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety or any combination of those matters ...
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) contains minimum security standards that Covered Entities and Business Associates must employ to safeguard protected health information (“PHI”). As part of HIPAA’s security standards, Business Associates are obligated to report all security incidents to the Covered Entity ...
Target, Home Depot, Sony, Anthem. All of these companies have been victims of very public cybersecurity breaches. Given what we know about those breaches, how can any other company know that it is safe from a cyber attack? No firewall appears to be unbreachable and no security system impenetrable. No company is big or small or traditional enough to avoid such exposure, as long as the business receives or transmits data or uses computer networks ...
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up? I grew up in a small town of about 3,500 in rural North Carolina, nestled in the middle of the Uwharrie National Forest. Like many small towns, it fostered a close-knit community of people who supported and encouraged me to dream big ...
Cryptocurrency, for most of us at least, has been hidden behind a veil of incomprehensible idiom for most of its lifespan. However, it has the potential to revolutionise the way we pay, borrow and lend, maybe sooner rather than later. Like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, we are told they’re set to change the world but few of us understand how that might actually work or what their impact might be ...
On 1 April 2014 amendments to the Contributions Act increasing the general rate for health insurance contributions from 13% to 15% came into force. The new contribution rate will be applied to salaries beginning in April 2014. Receipts related to previous periods will be grandfathered in at the previous applicable rate. Unused vacation for 2013 will be calculated at the 13% contribution rate and the new rate will apply to unused vacation in 2014 ...
Because of the coronavirus, several questions related to processing of personal data must be raised – in particular within the context of work life. In this article, we touch on some of the most important aspects employers should consider when processing employees’ personal data. A few days ago, the Swedish Data Protection Authority also published its guidance on the coronavirus and personal data. The guidance is available here (only in Swedish) ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. While the following CMS recommendations and guidelines identify nursing homes as the target recipients, they are applicable to all facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds, and are therefore subject to CMS's oversight ...
Do I have a COVID-19 business interruption claim? Particularly if you operate in the leisure, retail or hospitality sectors, your business has likely suffered significant financial losses from the disruption caused by COVID-19. In trying to alleviate the impact of those losses, you might have identified that your business’s insurance policy offered cover for ‘business interruption’ (or ‘BI’) ...
Does your organization’s insurance program provide any protection from the economic disruption caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic? What steps should you take to assess and protect that insurance coverage? The Bradley Policyholder Insurance Coverage team has provided an informative webinar addressing insurance coverage and claims adjustment for event cancellation, business interruption, and third-party claims stemming from the pandemic ...
The new virus COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, is spreading exponentially all over the world, also in Brazil. The outbreak is affecting the way in which our clients and their clients conduct their businesses, and the behavior of each and every one of us drastically. The virus is not only tragic for those, whose health is being affected, but also for large parts of the economy, such as the tourism industry, airlines and general retail (other than nutrition-related) ...
Gilda Radner’s character Rosanne Rosannadanna always ended her routines on Saturday Night live by saying, “It’s always something.” She might well have been talking about COVID-19, the effects of which are just beginning to be felt throughout the world. Schools are closed, supply chains may be cracked, travel is slowing and events are being postponed or canceled outright, with more impacts probably to come ...
This 28th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, includes a number of updates on the mounting number of business interruption coverage disputes -- including a claim against a broker whose alleged failure to obtain infectious disease coverage left the insured without coverage for COVID-19-induced losses ...
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and the World Health Organization’s declaration of this coronavirus as a pandemic, employers of all sizes have serious, and somewhat unprecedented, issues to consider. Fortunately for most employers, workers’ compensation may not be one of them ...
