Digital Privacy and Data Protection

Maintaining the privacy of financial, health care, employee and other personal information is a major concern for companies in virtually all business sectors. So too is the protection of intellectual property rights in e-commerce and multimedia applications.

Lathrop & Gage answers the need with a multidisciplinary team of lawyers who advise a wide range of organizations on data security, Internet and e-commerce concerns. Our team represents relevant disciplines in Internet law, employment law, intellectual property, insurance, health care and litigation, to name just a few. Please visit our blog, Media, Privacy & Beyond, an online resource for the latest developments and insights related to media, privacy and the practice of law.

We understand the complex interaction of federal and state statutes and international legal regimes involving data and Internet security, and keep our clients in compliance while helping them maintain business efficiency and competitiveness. 

Data Security Breaches. Lathrop & Gage helps clients in economic sectors as diverse as insurance, health care, specialty animal services, service organizations, higher education and gaming to recover lost or stolen data and to review policies and procedures so that data breaches do not take place.

Clients rely on our firm to conduct computer information systems audits that assess vulnerability to unauthorized access (hacking), viruses, data loss or theft. More than 40 states have passed legislation to protect the privacy of consumer electronic data, and we ensure that our clients follow proactive safeguards to avoid compliance problems. If data loss does occur, we help notify the affected individuals and relevant legal authorities.

We also have the capabilities to help secure insurance liability coverage to mitigate the financial consequences of data loss. 

Data Security Litigation. Litigation often results from data security breaches, and our lawyers have defended companies in a variety of cases where in-house lawyers, human resource management and other employees have taken personal and financial data.

We advise regarding the civil, criminal and ethical penalties that individuals and organizations face, including such issues as whistleblowing allegations. Our group has also handled bankruptcy litigation disputes with vendors over ownership and use of solicitation and mailing list data and software.

Often data security litigation can involve claims of trade secret and proprietary information misappropriation, particularly customer and prospect lists, and we effectively secure injunctions in such instances to prevent unauthorized disclosure and use.

Digital Media Protection. The fields of technology law and entertainment law are fast converging in much the same way that television and computers are converging.

Lathrop & Gage can counsel on all aspects of traditional entertainment law and their interaction with Internet multimedia, including social networking sites and search engines. We help clients ensure that copyrighted works and images are protected against unauthorized transfer to the Internet, CDs, DVDs and other high-technology communications media, and help enforce copyrights against infringement.

We have extensive experience handling Digital Millennium Copyright Act anti-circumvention rules, agent notices and registrations. We also help negotiate transactions that help clients exploit and profit from copyrighted works, such as licensing and distribution agreements.

Domain Name and Web site Protection. We enforce our clients’ rights against cybersquatters and others who improperly register and use Internet domain names that are identical or confusingly similar to our clients’ names, trademarks or service marks.

Our lawyers have successfully prosecuted cybersquatting actions, for example overseeing cease-and-desist efforts for a new media advertising agency on the use of domain names and lead generation portals by customers and end user technical and trade colleges. We have also helped a software company defend claims and prosecute counterclaims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, defending against allegations that our client attempted an unauthorized access of the plaintiff’s secure Web site and counterclaiming that the plaintiff had attempted the same type of unauthorized access against our client’s secure Web site.

Central to domain name enforcement is the kind of effective domain name registration that we provide to a broad range of clients. Our lawyers conduct online availability searches for domain names of interest, register the names, docket and monitor renewal deadlines, and renew the domain name registrations at the appropriate times. Using our skills at trademark law, we also keep a close eye on the opening of new domain names, identifying where assertive action is necessary to protect client interests.

E-Commerce Compliance. We ensure the distribution of advertising and other commercial information via wireless telephone, facsimile and e-mail complies, to the extent applicable, with the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and other applicable federal laws and regulations, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

When necessary we defend advertisers against spamming and privacy violation claims and have an excellent track record of both at trial and in negotiation and settlement.

Because many states have consumer protection laws that may apply in this area, Lathrop & Gage also is experienced in dispute resolution involving such statutes as California Business and Professions Code § 17200, the Illinois Computer Crime Prevention Law, the Illinois Electronic Mail Act, the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, and a variety of other laws and regulations focused on spam, digital trespass and related claims.

E-Commerce Privacy. Privacy is a central concern of Internet-based businesses. Our team ensures development of Web sites that keep all submissions confidential and all transactions secure, maintain proper online terms and develop effective privacy notices and terms.

We demonstrate how to structure transactions that maximize protection and control liability risks, while counseling personnel on domestic and international privacy law and data management.

We also draft policies and agreements to protect the integrity, security and confidentiality of customer data, and work with computer security professionals and computer forensics experts on the latest security solutions (including encryption rules and regulations). 

Health Data Protection. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has brought sweeping changes in how health care providers handle the privacy, electronic transmission and security of every patient’s protected health information.

Lathrop & Gage helps hospitals, nursing homes, insurers and their service providers with the ongoing responsibility not only to comply with the law but to evaluate the effectiveness of their compliance efforts. Proactive advice and training on privacy compliance, including Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act compliance, are at the heart of our HIPAA practice. We work with clients to assess their current protected health information security practices to determine potential problems, then create consistent, understandable guidelines for managing information use and disclosure. Also, as part of our HIPAA compliance efforts, we help companies meet obligations to maintain privacy of employee protected health information with regard to employee benefit plans.