The Legal Brief

Privacy Post-Schrems II - Second of a Four-Part Series on Compliance with EU Privacy Laws Using Standard Contractual Clauses

October 14, 2020

As discussed in the first installment in this blog series, the Schrems II case gave new significance to the use of standard contractual clauses (“SCCs”) for personal data transfers from EU countries to countries outside of the European Union (the “EU”) or the European Economic Area, including the United States. However, the “adequacy” of the appropriate safeguards in SCCs depends heavily on the…

Privacy Post-Schrems II - First of a Four-Part Series on Compliance with EU Privacy Laws Using Standard Contractual Clauses

October 7, 2020

The Schrems II case has had substantial impact on personal data transfers from the European Union (the “EU”) to the United States. As Jackson Kelly explained previously, the Schrems II case:  1) upheld the validity of standard contractual clauses (“SCCs”) for the transfer of personal data to recipients established in third countries; but 2) invalidated the adequacy of the protection provided by…

Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking U.S. WeChat Ban

September 23, 2020

On September 18, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that it had banned Chinese-owned mobile apps WeChat and TikTok from U.S. app stores. WeChat is a social messaging app used for mobile payments and transfer of funds owned by Chinese multinational, Tencent Holdings. Department of Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, announced that both apps and their app updates would no longer be distributed in…

SEC Opens Private Offerings to More Investors 

August 28, 2020

On August 26, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expanded the definition of “accredited investor” to allow persons with certain professional experience to invest in private offerings. The “accredited Investor” definition is one of the main tests for determining who is eligible to participate in a private offering under Rules 506(b) and 506(c) of Regulation D. Before the…

“Schrems II”:  A Second Wave of Impacts Across the EU-U.S. Privacy Landscape

August 6, 2020

In a landmark decision affecting international data transfers from the European Union (the “EU”) to the United States, the Court of Justice of the European Union (in essence, the European Union’s Supreme Court) (the “CJEU”) in Case C-311/18 Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Limited and Maximillian Schrems (the “Schrems II” case):  1) upheld the validity of standard contractual…

Indiana Governor Issues Executive Order Requiring Face Masks

July 27, 2020

At 12:01 a.m. today, Governor Holcomb’s Executive Order requiring face coverings went into effect. The Order is in response to an increase in the number of cases and positivity rate of COVID-19 cases in Indiana. Specifically, the Order requires every individual within the State of Indiana to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth when:

1. inside a business, public building, or other indoor…

Colorado Last Call News

July 22, 2020

Colorado state government has made significant changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From passing new laws on workplace safety and paid leave, to issuing a statewide mandate that people wear facemasks in public spaces. However, even as these changes have gone into effect the state has continued to see a rise in COVID-19 cases. The increases are not as stark as some other states, including…

Colorado Statewide Mask Order

July 21, 2020

In the midst of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States and in those states bordering Colorado, Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued a statewide mask order on July 16, 2020. Referring to studies projecting that the resurgence in COVID has a potential to overwhelm Colorado’s ICU beds by September, Polis announced that this took effect on Friday, July 17, 2020 at midnight.

The order mandates…

Colorado Passes New Sick Leave Law

July 16, 2020

On Tuesday July 14, 2020, Colorado enacted an expansive new law regarding paid sick and family leave that will have impacts on employers across the state with both union and nonunion workforces. The law expands upon federal paid sick leave that was part of the early response from Congress to the pandemic. The law expands requirements for employers to offer paid sick leave, and the reasons…

Complying With Regulatory Standards For Data Privacy And Data/Cyber Security (Fourth In A Series)

June 25, 2020

Throughout this blog series we have communicated that the global COVID-19 pandemic has not halted compliance for two major regulatory provisions affecting hundreds of thousands of businesses – The California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) and the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (the “CMMC”). In this final blog post of the series, we will delve deeper into how your organization can…

Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC): What We Know to be Facts vs. What We Need to Find Out (Third In A Series)

June 19, 2020

As discussed in the first two entries in this series of four, while COVID-19 has many organizations focused on other priorities, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) remains to be phased into DoD contracts beginning July 1, 2020. It is important that all affected organizations continue to prepare for the requirements. The U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) released version 1.0 of…

CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE JULY 1ST ENFORCEMENT (Second In A Series)

June 11, 2020

As we discussed in this series’ first entry, the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 forced many companies to shift focus to immediate financial and operational issues to keep their businesses afloat, which may have resulted in certain initiatives (such as corporate compliance matters) being put on temporary hold. However, the pandemic did not affect the July 1, 2020 enforcement deadline for the…