Francine Friedman, David Turetsky Quoted in Law360 on Privacy Policy to Watch for in Remainder of 2016

Akin Gump senior policy advisor Francine Friedman and public law and policy partner David Turetsky were quoted in the Law360 story “Privacy Policy To Watch For The Rest of 2016.”

With the presidential election less than three months away, the article reports that Congress may limit itself to completing only certain tasks before the end of the year. Friedman, however, feels differently, saying, “While people may think that D.C. is at a compete standstill because Congress is out for a good portion of the rest of 2016, we should expect to see a lot of activity from the administration and in the regulatory area when it comes to cybersecurity, and things will continue to march on.”

One area where there may be some action taken is with regard to a cybersecurity national action plan. The article notes that President Obama has identified this as a top priority of his. Earlier this year, he signed two executive orders creating a pair of councils tasked with making recommendations on actions that can be taken over the next decade to strengthen cybersecurity in both the public and private sectors.

“The councils show an interest by the administration to use tools in both the private and public sector to figure out what can be done and should be done when it comes to cybersecurity,” said Friedman. Bolstering national cybersecurity, she added, is “a partnership” that requires both sectors to do their part.

As for regulatory matters, the article says changes are expected to come in the final version of the FCC’s controversial broadband privacy rule, which, in its current form, would require Internet service providers to disclose clearly how customer data is being used, take reasonable steps to protect that information, and notify affected customers within 10 days of discovering a data breach.

“While these proposals are likely to undergo some changes before getting finalized, it is clear that they will have potentially significant impacts on what those companies will need to consider ‘consumer personal information,’ when and what form of consumer consent is required for various purposes, and the security this data requires,” said Turetsky, who also co-heads Akin Gump’s cybersecurity, privacy and data protection practice.