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Both federal law and the Illinois Trade Secrets Act (765 ILCS 1065/et seq.) allow a person to recover money damages caused by the misappropriation of trade secrets. 765 ILCS 1065/4; 18 U.S.C. § 1836. Generally, a “trade secret” is information kept confidential for economically advantageous reasons. See 765 ILCS 1065/4; 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3). Trade secrets often consist of technical or business information, such as, for example, designs, codes, prototypes, procedures, or plans. See 765 ILCS 1065/4; 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3). In some instances, a trade secret may include lists of customers and/or potential customers. 765 ILCS 1065/4.
Incident response planning, including tabletop exercises, is vital to the data breach preparedness of any organization. Data breaches can have a crippling effect on a business. Although data breaches at large companies dominate the headlines, data breaches occur at small and medium-sized businesses as well.
Data breaches have happened, and will continue to happen, to all different types of entities, including private businesses, charities, government offices, and schools.
Earlier this year, South Dakota passed the state’s first data breach notification law. Prior to passage of the law, South Dakota was one of only two states that did not have a state data breach notification law. The law went into effect this past July.
To avoid what is becoming a common lawsuit, businesses need to be aware of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) requirements. Two class action lawsuits were recently filed in Cook County Circuit Court by employees alleging violations of the BIPA by their respective employers.
A data protection ordinance was recently proposed in the City of Chicago. The “Data Collection and Protection Ordinance” (the Ordinance), sponsored by Aldermans Burke, Hopkins and Reilly, is a response to a string of high-profile data breaches that occurred during the past year.
Continue ReadingThere are many questions surrounding the actions of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, including whether this incident is considered a data breach. There has been some debate on this issue.
On January 8, 2018, VTech Electronics Limited (VTech) agreed to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the company violated U.S. children’s privacy law. As part of the settlement, VTech agreed to pay a $650,000 civil penalty, refrain from further violation of the law, and implement a comprehensive data security compliance program.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit recently upheld a district court decision dismissing a putative class action filed by two plaintiffs against the maker of the NBA2K videogame series. The plaintiffs alleged five violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The district court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims for lack of Article III standing, and the plaintiffs appealed.
Continue ReadingThe United States Supreme Court opinion in Spokeo (“Spokeo II) was viewed as a major decision in cybersecurity litigation. We at Mckenna Storer addressed the importance of that decision in this space in “No Harm, No Foul: Why Spokeo v. Robins is a Win for Data Privacy Defendants”. The results following that decision have been mixed for plaintiffs and defendants. In Spokeo II, the Court remanded the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which recently issued its opinion on remand. The 9th Circuit held that Plaintiff has standing to sue Spokeo for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
