It's a general counsel's worst nightmare. Sensitive data. Gone. Stolen by faceless thieves who breached the company's seemingly secure network.
As my partner Scott Vernick of Fox Rothschild recently stated: "Data breaches can severely impact a company's reputation and have debilitating consequences to businesses big and small."
A new mobile phone app launched by the Fox Rothschild Privacy and Data Security Practice provides a guide to swift damage control in situations like this. The app—called Data Breach 411—can help companies who are affected by a breach navigate the various laws and regulations relating to data breaches. Currently, 46 states have laws in place addressing how organizations should prepare for and respond to the loss or theft of data.
According to Vernick: "Our app is a 'one stop shop' for in-house counsel and privacy officers to instantly access the relevant state-specific details on what they need to do, who they need to notify, when and how. The ability to access these state rules at your fingertips can make all the difference in terms of what's at stake for an organization: loss of reputational integrity, public trust and business, and time-consuming and costly remediation efforts."
Information available via the Data Breach 411 app include:
- State Security Breach Statutes: An alphabetical listing of the states that have data breach laws in place and links to all the relevant notification statutes.
- HIPAA/HITECH Statutes: Breach notifications rules and other pertinent information related to the loss or theft of personal health information.
- Resources: Links to credit agencies and credit monitoring services as well as the FTC website. Also, a section on COPPA – the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act – and relevant information surrounding the mining of data on minors. This section also includes links to Fox's Privacy Compliance & Data Security Blog and its HIPAA, HITECH and Health Information Technology Blog.
The Data Breach 411 app is currently available for free in the iTunes Store. An Android version will be available soon. To download the app, click here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.