Monthly Archives: August 2015

“Car-Safety Debate: Is a Hacked Vehicle Also Defective?” The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2015 B1.  Can regulators require a recall if there’s a problem and your car’s electronic systems are hacked?  Can you sue?

On the other hand, if you fail to provide reasonable protection to online customer data, the FTC can come after you for unfair and deceptive trade practices. “FTC Can Target Firms for Lax Security,” The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2015 B4.

What information do you have within your control, and what protections must you provide?

One way you can make money from “information” is to make it easier to transfer that information more securely.

“Profits From Privacy,” The Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2015 R5. Listing of small businesses who are attempting to address the market for more security in the electronic world.  It’s not just SnapChat anymore.  Encrypted email and texts, automated deletion from servers and phones, and disposable phone numbers (as opposed to disposable phones).

But even though the problem is the inherent insecurity of electronic information, is the solution necessarily technological?

I’ve taken a bit of a break from posting here, what with vacations and all.  But the beat goes on.

I’m struck by three different stories that have been bubbling.

Hillary Clinton and her personal server, and the possibility of violations of security protocols and record keeping requirements, to say nothing about a possible claim under 18 USC Section 1519.  That section makes it a felony to knowingly alter, conceal, or cover up any record or document with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States.

Tom Brady deleted a bunch of emails and destroyed his phone in the midst of the NFL investigation into possibly deflated footballs.  He’s glad there wasn’t a potential lawsuit and that the NFL is not an agency of the US government.

And, finally, Ashley Madison provided some interesting and salacious summer reading. The site, which centered around connecting up people who wanted to have extra-martial affairs, was hacked.  Apparently, some of the details (names and credit cards) and email traffic on this site have been made public.  Is the business liable for not protecting its customers’ information, even when they paid extra to have special security?  And why were people with a whitehouse.gov email address connecting with this site?

I am still looking for the examples of people properly managing information.