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Internet of Things (IoT)

In Episode 12 of our Inside Privacy Audiocast, together with special guest Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Information Regulator of South Africa, we discussed the Information Regulator’s mandate, and the implementation of data protection legislation in South Africa.  Now, with less than a month to go before South Africa’s

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Continue Reading Final Countdown to POPIA Compliance – Five Critical Steps to Take Before July 1st, 2021

On May 12, the Biden Administration issued an “Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.”  The Order seeks to strengthen the federal government’s ability to respond to and prevent cybersecurity threats, including by modernizing federal networks, enhancing the federal government’s software supply chain security, implementing enhanced cybersecurity practices and procedures in the federal government, and creating government-wide plans for incident response.  The Order covers a wide array of issues and processes, setting numerous deadlines for recommendations and actions by federal agencies, and focusing on enhancing the protection of federal networks in partnership with the service providers on which federal agencies rely.  Private sector entities, including federal contractors and service providers, will have opportunities to provide input to some of these actions.In particular, and among other things, the Order:
  • seeks to remove obstacles to sharing threat information between the private sector and federal agencies;
  • mandates that software purchased by the federal government meet new cybersecurity standards;
  • discusses securing cloud-based systems, including information technology (IT) systems that process data, and operational technology (OT) systems that run vital machinery and infrastructure;
  • seeks to impose new cyber incident[1] reporting requirements on certain IT and OT providers and software product and service vendors and establishes a Cyber Safety Review Board to review and assess such cyber incidents and other cyber incidents; and
  • addresses the creation of pilot programs related to consumer labeling in connection with the cybersecurity capabilities of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The Order contains eight substantive sections, which are listed here, and discussed in more detail below:

  • Section 2 – Removing Barriers to Sharing Threat Information
  • Section 3 – Modernizing Federal Government Cybersecurity
  • Section 4 – Enhancing Software Supply Chain Security
  • Section 5 – Establishing a Cyber Safety Review Board
  • Section 6 – Standardizing the Federal Government’s Playbook for Responding to Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities and Incidents
  • Section 7 – Improving Detection of Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities and Incidents on Federal Government Networks
  • Section 8 – Improving the Federal Government’s Investigative and Remediation Capabilities
  • Section 9 – National Security Systems

The summaries below discuss highlights from these sections, and the full text of the Order can be found here.


Continue Reading President Biden Signs Executive Order Aimed at Improving Government Cybersecurity

Can African governments head off a sustained spike in the spread of COVID-19 and recover economically in 2021? How will the Biden administration engage the continent? Will companies implement more effective due diligence efforts in their supply chains to prevent human rights abuses? What impact will efforts to battle corruption

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Continue Reading Top Issues to Watch in Africa: 2021

On 16 July 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced that it has launched an antitrust sector inquiry into “consumer-related products and services that are connected to a network and can be controlled at a distance, for example via a voice assistant or mobile device.”

Commission Executive

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Continue Reading The European Commission launches an antitrust sector inquiry into the sector of Internet of Things for consumer-related devices and services

On March 11, 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Cory Gardner introduced the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019. The Act seeks “[t]o leverage Federal Government procurement power to encourage increased cybersecurity for Internet of Things devices.” In other words, this

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Continue Reading Senate Reintroduces IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act

Since the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) repealed the 2015 net neutrality rules last year, federal and state lawmakers have debated how to address the issue of net neutrality going forward.  We previously have discussed some of the state net neutrality laws that were enacted, including California’s law, which currently

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Continue Reading Net Neutrality Update: House Hearing and Proposed Legislation

Congress is working to better understand the growing Internet of Things (“IoT”) industry—and soon may be asking industry stakeholders for input.  On Wednesday, November 28, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation designed to provide Congress with greater insights into the inner workings of the IoT industry and to…
Continue Reading House Moves to Get “SMART” on the IoT Industry   

On July 20, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) published comments it received from a wide array of tech and telecom companies, trade groups, civil society, academia, and others regarding its “international Internet policy priorities for 2018 and beyond.”  NTIA’s Office of International Affairs…
Continue Reading NTIA’s International Internet Policy Priorities for 2018 and Beyond

The European Commission estimates that the global market for the Internet of Things (“IoT”) will grow to 75.4 billion devices by 2023. It also estimates that the economic value of spectrum enabled services is at present worth €500 billion per year. This is expected to increase by 200% – up

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Continue Reading IoT Update: The European Electronic Communications Code – Developing the Future of IoT in the EU

As policymakers weigh the many policy implications associated with the Internet of Things (“IoT”), U.S. lawmakers have put forward a variety of proposals for studying—and regulating—IoT devices.  Although the likelihood of current proposals becoming law this term remain uncertain at best, existing legislative proposals provide important context and insight into…
Continue Reading Covington IoT Update: U.S. Legislative Roundup on IoT