Privacy Law Lawyer

Are you a business owner? If your answer is yes, you must be aware of the various aspects of business privacy laws and their importance. Well, if you want to know more about them, you are absolutely at the right place!

In the United States, there is no “Federal Data Privacy Law” for businesses or any “Central Data Protection Authority” with compliance assurance. Rather, most of the regulations are at the “state-level,” and therefore, the state attorney general of the United States plays a vital role in the enforcement of Privacy Laws. A “Privacy Law Attorney” can help you stay ahead of the widely changing Privacy Laws in the United States.

Issues Surrounding the Privacy Laws:

The state-level regulations have incompatible or overlapping provisions in terms of privacy regulations for businesses. You can consider the example of all the 50 states of the United States which have adopted the “Data Breach Notification Laws.” However, there are certain definitions for personal business data and the factors which specifically constitute a “Data Breach.” Similarly, over 35 states of Puerto Rico have individual “Data Disposal laws,” which is also true for the “Data Privacy Laws.”

Provisions of Privacy Law:

  • Right to access information held by the US govt. agencies and to copy that information
  • To correct erroneous data.
  • Following the data minimization guidelines while collecting information
  • To collect the least and relevant data only to meet the purpose
  • Restriction of data accessibility on a “need to know basis.”
  • Restricted sharing of data between other federal and non-federal agencies

California Consumer Privacy Act:

The “California Consumer Privacy Act” * began as a ‘ballot initiative’ because of the public's increasing concern regarding the amount of private data being secret.

  • Federal Trade Commission- Independent agency of the US that promotes consumer protection and antitrust law.

Collected by the technological and digital businesses of Silicon Valley. This Act incorporates the key principles of privacy protection in the “General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR is a far-reached Privacy Law that the European Union has developed. Under this law, businesses need to extend the various rights provided by the CCPA to the employees. The CCPA law does not allow any discrimination against the customers who perform their rights. The customers must be provided the same service quality even if they tend to object to a specific activity like data selling. The service providers should use consumer data only when directed by the business they serve, and upon request, they should erase the customer's personal data from their records. Upon any breach of this law, the Privacy Law Attorney would give the businesses 30 days to rectify their violations, and a failure of this might lead to a civil penalty of around US$7500 for every purposeful violation and up to US$2500 for every unintentional violation.

New York Data Privacy Law:

The New York Data Privacy Law is quite similar in terms of its provisions and scopes to the CCPA. Under this law, the individuals are empowered to inquire regarding what information a business might have collected regarding them and with whom the information has been shared. The New York privacy act also allows individuals to request for deletion of their personal information or data. Also, they can choose to opt-out of the process of having their information shared or sold to others. This act complements the prevalent data breach notification law of New York by an expansion of the “Personal Data Protection Law.” You need to keep in mind that the NYPA is the only data privacy law of the United States that will impose various “fiduciary duties” on any legal entities that gather, license, or sell any personal information. This law defines the duties briefly. Under the provisions of this law, businesses are required to secure the customers' personal information against any security risk that might harm the consumers.

Violation of the above Law:

A violation of NYPA law would not provide any scope for a penalty, and the decision would be entirely left to the court. The court would consider the number of affected individuals along with the severity of the breach. Based on that, the decisions would be taken.

Types of Business Data Privacies That Are Covered Under the Us Privacy Laws:

The US Privacy Law Attorney considers the following business information or data as sensitive:

  • Identification Law
  • Students’/Education Privacy law
  • Health or /medical law
  • Financial Privacy Law, etc.

The data or information which could be used for the identification of someone, or to contact or reach someone, or even to differentiate between one person from another, like name, security number, or address, are covered under the US Privacy Laws. Apart from that, information like personal health information, medical health histories, financial information like credit card numbers, details of one’s bank account, or any other data about someone’s finances also comes under this regulation. In addition, the US privacy law covers educational records like grades of students, class schedules, and various billing details.

Removal of Improper Information from Your Web:

As per US privacy laws, if you find any data breach involved with the personal information posted on your website improperly, you should instantly remove it. You need to be aware that internet search engines tend to store information for a certain period. To ensure the removal of the information, you can contact the search engine that they do not archive any personal data posted mistakenly. Also, you can search for the exposed data of your company to ensure that no other websites have a copy, and in case you find one, you can contact them and ask them to remove it immediately. You need to remember that you cannot destroy any forensic evidence in the course of the remediation or investigation.

The Privacy Act of 1974:

The Privacy Act of 1974 tends to regulate the processes in which the Federal Government records are kept and how various federal agencies deal with individuals. The law needs the federal agencies to follow different stringent record-keeping guidelines. It enables the individuals to access the records regarding themselves, learn if those records have been revealed, and request any necessary amendments or corrections to the records if they are not legally exempt.

Application of the Privacy Laws on the Foreign Companies:

The application of the privacy laws on the various foreign companies thriving in the US depends on several factors, including the effect on the individuals, the influence on the United States commerce, and if the business has a subsidiary in America. You need to remember that foreign businesses might be subjected to the United States privacy laws if they process, collect or share any personal data of any residence of the United States. For instance, if a foreign business thrives in California and gathers the personal data of the Californian residences, it can be subjected to the CCPA.

Difference between US Privacy Laws and EU’s GDPR:

The European GDPR is responsible for protecting any one of the fundamental Privacy rights, that is, the right to be forgotten. It is the right to request one to remove personal information from any record book of a company or organization. These privacy rights are generally considered incompatible with the US’ right to freedom of speech which is enshrined in the Bill of Rights. This is because the forcing of information to be delisted might be perceived as a narrowing of this freedom of right and might invite the risk of censorship. But, several laws in the US tend to offer some types of rights to be forgotten. For example, the COPPA enables the parents to review and remove the personal information of their children. The CCPA, in a similar manner, enables the residents to request the removal of the records with specific limitations.

How Can a Privacy Law Attorney Help You?

You need to know that the number of state-level data privacy laws is expanding. The prevalent laws are being increasingly amended to address the constantly changing landscape of Cybersecurity and business data security. Therefore, it is of vital importance for businesses as well as individuals to stay abreast of the various state laws as they can have an “extraterritorial application” or even some steep penalties for any “compliance violations.” A privacy lawyer tends to work in a wide range of capacities, and they can help you gain knowledge regarding the best way to respond to any data breach, defend the various litigations associated with data breaches, and other privacy-oriented cause of action. With the help and advice of an efficient Privacy Law professional, you can also effectively handle different privacy issues involved in the “cross border litigation.” In addition, a Privacy law Expert can create effective procedures and policies for collecting, using, disclosing, and managing personal data and information which is consistent with your business processes. Therefore, with a Privacy law attorney, all your procedures and policies would be developed under the best practices backed by an agile expert.

How Can the Legal Helpers Make Your Search Easy?

Here at “The Legal Helpers,” we would closely work with you to understand your specific problem and connect you to the exact kind of lawyer needed to deal with the legal issues you face. All you need to do is contact us, and we will be here at your service. We will make your search for a lawyer easier by connecting you to the eligible attorneys around your area. When the search becomes easier, the job is half done!

Hurry and reach us now to get your hands on the best lawyer in your city.

Resources:

  • Federal Trade Commission- Independent agency of the US that promotes consumer protection and antitrust law
  • https://bakerlaw.com/webfiles/Privacy/2019/Briefs/California-Consumer-Privacy-Act-FAQs.pdf