Posts by Aaron Brooks
Amazon Receives Largest Ever GDPR Penalty
The Luxembourg Data Protection Authority (the “Commission Nationale pour la Protection des Données” or “CNPD”) has issued the largest GDPR financial penalty to date against Amazon.com Inc. Amazon disclosed the $888 Million fine in a July 29, 2021 regulatory filing. Prior to this ruling, the largest GDPR penalty was against Google in the amount of…
Read MoreCalifornia Privacy Rights Act of 2020 Approved
UPDATE: On November 3, 2020, California voters approved Proposition 24, causing the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 to become law when the California Secretary of State has certified the election results. While much of CPRA will not become operative until 2023, several key provisions become effective right away. Perhaps most importantly, California now has…
Read MoreSchrems II Resources and References
This post is intended to serve as a running list of key articles, resources, and primary law associated with Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland and Maximillian Schrems (Case C-311/18) EU:C:2020:559, commonly referred to as “Schrems II.” Please email hello@brooksfirm.law if you’d like to be notified when this resource is updated from time to time. Key…
Read MoreU.S. May Impose Sanctions for Making or Facilitating Ransomware Payments
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued an advisory warning against making ransomware payments related to cyberattacks. The OFAC warning, issued on October 1, 2020, notes that demands for ransomware payments has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and makes clear that such payments are a threat to…
Read MoreMicrosoft Dives into Underwater Datacenter Research
In August of 2014 Microsoft began work on Project Natick, a research initiative focused on building and deploying underwater datacenters. Now, a datacenter that’s been 117 feet under the ocean’s surface for two years is providing a first look at what the future of offshore datacenter networks might look like. According to Project Natick’s website:…
Read MorePost-Quantum Cryptography: The New Legal Standard For Protecting Highly Sensitive Data
On August 22, 2019, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) hosted its Second Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Conference. The core purpose of this Conference series was to standardize one or more quantum-resistant public-key cryptographic algorithms. This is significant, and requires the attention of any legal professional who is engaged in documenting compliance procedures associated…
Read MoreInformation Durability In Data Storage Agreements
Digital storage systems raise a number of legal issues that are challenging, yet manageable if they are fully understood. One such issue is managing the durability of electronic data when the original paper document is no longer available to remaster the digital image if it were to become lost or inaccessible. Paper is a physical…
Read MoreThoughts on Cloud Service Agreements
The terms “cloud computing” and “cloud storage” are generally used to describe any system of managing or storing data that is not dependent upon a single device or computer. “Cloud computing” usually means that the data can be accessed over the Internet, and frequently means that the data is stored on a server that is…
Read MoreMore Content On the Way
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