Tomorrow the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General. EPIC submitted a statement to the Committee, which stated “Senator Sessions’ record regarding the privacy rights of Americans raises serious questions about his selection as Attorney General.” EPIC pointed to Sessions’ support for warrantless surveillance of the American people and opposition to government oversight. Senator Sessions also opposed Apple in its dispute with the FBI and failed to support efforts to modernize the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The Lawyers for Good Government also raised concerns about Senator Session’s support for the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act, as well as his independence to “prosecute all criminal acts including those that may implicate the President of the United States.”
The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to review In re Nickelodeon, a class action suit concerning privacy protections for Internet users under the Video Privacy Protection Act. Last year, a federal appeals court rejected claims that Google and Viacom had violated the statute, holding that static IP and MAC addresses are not "personally identifiable information." That opinion contradicted a previous ruling from a different federal appeals court, which held that unique IDs are personally identifiable under the video privacy law. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the Nickelodeon case, explaining that Congress defined personal information broadly "to ensure that the underlying intent of the Act-to safeguard personal information against unlawful disclosure-is preserved as technology evolves."
The White House Office of Management and Budget has released guidance establishing common standards and practices for how federal agencies manage data breaches. The Data Breach Memorandum sets out a risk-based framework for evaluating data breaches and requires each agency to develop a data breach response plan. Not all breaches will trigger individual notification under the guidance. The new guidance comes four months after a House Government and Oversight Committee report criticized the Office of Personnel Management about the 2015 data breaches that compromised the records of 22 million federal employees and family members. EPIC testified in 2009 and 2011 in support of strong data breach notification laws, filed comments with the Office of Personal Management recommending limits on data collection, and has urged the Supreme Court to recognize a right of "information privacy" that would limit the ability of the federal government to collect personal information.
