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* Name Compliance Week * Location Boston, MA * Web http://www.compli... * Bio Compliance Week is an information service on corporate compliance and risk. Twitterers include editor-in-chief Matt Kelly and publisher Scott Cohen.

Mixed receptionThe state hopes changes to Massachusetts' data privacy regulation plan will calm business community fears over the cost of the new controls, but watchers of the process say the government may have made things worse. One thing seems certain: the recent changes aren't likely to be the last word on regulating sensitive data in the Bay State. The regulations mandate all "personal information" belonging to Massachusetts residents be encrypted whenever it is stored on portable devices, transmitted wirelessly or shared on public networks. Changes enacted just in time to beat a deadline of Thursday, Feb. 12, pushed the effective date back eight months, from May 1 to Jan. 1, 2010. They also removed a requirement that businesses certify third-party vendors' compliance. The latter move was aimed to address an issue raised in a public hearing with business leaders held Jan. 15 at the State House. The change was designed to make the third-party regulations more adaptable to companies of various sizes and business models, said Massachusetts Consumer Affairs undersecretary Daniel Crane.

Four HIV-positive patients whose records were left behind on an MBTA train by a Massachusetts General Hospital employee are suing the hospital, claiming their privacy has been breached. In March the hospital notified 66 patients who received care at its Infectious Disease Associates outpatient practice that billing records bearing their names, Social Security numbers, doctors, and diagnoses had been lost by a manager who was riding the Red Line. She had brought the paperwork home for the weekend, but left it on the train when she returned to work the morning of Monday, March 9, according to hospital security reports. Last week two patients who are HIV-positive filed a suit in Suffolk Superior Court against the hospital and the unidentified billing manager. The unnamed plaintiffs have been joined by two other HIV-positive people. The legal action was first reported in the weekly newspaper Bay Windows. Their lawyer, John Yasi of the Salem law firm Yasi and Yasi, said in an interview he has filed a motion to make the suit a class action that could cover all 66 patients, a significant number of whom are also HIV-positive. "The damages that jump out are the emotional distress surrounding the loss of obviously very sensitive medical information and secondarily the loss of personal security information," he said. "A Social Security number in reality may lead to identity theft, which we all know is a nightmare."

As if banks didn't have enough on their plates with compliance and regulation on the federal front, come May 1, they will have to be mindful of strict new rules coming from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts around data security. The Massachusetts Data Security Regulations are perhaps like no other in terms of their depth and scope. During a teleconference, attorneys from the privacy and data security practice of the law firm Goodwin Procter (Boston) described this very detailed, all-encompassing set of rules designed to keep consumers' personal data safe. They go beyond the rules of other states and the federal government that simply require companies to notify their customers of theft of their personal information. "Personal information," for the purposes of the regulation, is described as someone's first and last name or first initial and last name, in combination with Social Security Number, driver's license number or financial account number. At its core, the regulation states that companies, including banks, that handle the personal data of a Massachusetts resident must show they have in place a comprehensive, written information security program with heightened security procedures around how this information is handled. The rules also extend to entities' service providers and the degree to which they too much show they comply with the Massachusetts rules of handling data on residents. Companies have until May 1 to amend their vendor contracts to reflect this and until Jan. 1, 2010 to certify their vendors comply. Furthermore, companies must comply with these rules even if they do not have a single office in the Bay State or if they are in an already heavily regulated industry, like financial services. As long as customers in businesses' databases reside in Massachusetts, those companies are affected by the rules. According to partner Deborah Birnbach, this is some of the most intrusive legislation as it relates to the operation of businesses. "It requires

Goodwin Procter Experts Discuss Data Privacy and Security Best Practices at IAPP Privacy Academy BOSTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to a new survey conducted by Goodwin Procter LLP and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), companies face three significant challenges - cost, time and number of vendors involved - in complying with new data security rules issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts earlier this year. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has issued rules, which take effect on March 1, 2010, that impose significant data security requirements on entities possessing personal information of state residents, including entities based outside Massachusetts. The intent of the rules is to protect sensitive data and safeguard the public's privacy.