Jul 3, 2018
Bio
Lydia Parnes is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she is chair of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice. She regularly represents companies in complex regulatory investigations and provides advice on complying with federal, state, and global privacy and data protection laws.
The former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lydia is a highly regarded privacy expert. As director of the BCP, Lydia oversaw privacy and data security enforcement efforts and the development of the FTC's approach to online advertising. She testified on numerous occasions on the benefits of a uniform nationwide data breach law and the risks of legislating in the technology area.
Lydia advises companies on how to navigate global privacy and data security requirements while pursuing their business goals. She helps them develop and implement comprehensive privacy compliance programs and understand the nuances of regulation and self-regulation in the privacy arena. Lydia regularly represents clients before the FTC and other federal and state agencies.
Lydia was named a top lawyer in the cybersecurity category by Washingtonian Magazine in 2017 and 2015 and is regularly recognized in Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers as among the country's top privacy and data security attorneys. In 2012, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was recognized by Law360 as a "top privacy and consumer protection" law firm.
Lydia speaks throughout the country on developments in data security and privacy.
Resources
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Eleventh Circuit LabMD Decision Significantly Restrains FTC’s Remedial Powers in Data Security and Privacy Actions by Lydia Parnes (WSGR Blog, June 18, 2018)
News Roundup
California passes its own set of privacy rules
The state of California has passed its own, sweeping data privacy law that’s set to go into effect in 2020. The hastily passed law signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday grants Californians the right to know the what, why and how of how companies are collecting and sharing their data. The new law, while it also grants consumers the right to tell companies to delete their data, isn’t as extensive as the EU’s new Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which everyone’s still trying to figure out.
DOJ approves Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox
The Department of Justice has granted Disney antitrust approval to acquire 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets for $71 billion. But Disney is going to need to divest Fox’s 22 regional sports networks within 90 days after it closes. Rival Comcast is still in the running, though. Its $65 billion bid is still on the table.
Facebook says it released even more data
In a 700-page set of replies to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Facebook acknowledged that it shared user data with 52 companies after it stopped doing so in 2015 with most others. The company says it has ended 38 of the 52 partnerships. Companies with which Facebook continues to share data are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung and Alibaba. But lawmakers are obviously concerned given the ongoing fallout from the Cambridge Analytica debacle in which the company shared the data of some 87 million Facebook users which were used to help Republican candidates.
Man charged with threatening Ajit Pai’s family
The FBI arrested a Norwalk, California man for allegedly threatening to kill Ajit Pai’s children because of the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules. Thirty-three year old Markara Man, 33, allegedly sent three emails to Pai listing preschools around Arlington, Virginia, where Chairman Pai lives and threatening to kill his children back in December of 2017—months before the vote.
NSA deletes 685 million call records
Remember when the National Security Agency came under fire a few years back when former contractor Ed Snowden revealed that the agency was collecting the phone records of millions of Americans? Well the NSA is deleting some 685 million of those call records for “technical irregularities”.
NSA Contractor Reality Winner takes pea bargain
Reality Winner, the former NSA contractor who leaked NSA documents last summer, has taken a plea bargain. The 26-year-old was charged with violating the Espionage Act for sharing NSA documents allegedly showing what NSA knew about how Russia penetrated the 2016 presidential election. She’ll serve 5 years and 3 months, with 3 years’ supervised release.
Former Equifax manager charged with insider trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sudhakar Reddy Bonthy with insider trading. The agency alleges that Bonthu made $75,000 from illegal trades based on confidential information about Equifax’s data breach last year which exposed the data of more than 100 million people.
The New York Attorney General is probing the T-Mobile/Sprint Deal
The New York Attorney General’s office is investigating the effect the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint deal would have on pre-paid mobile services. Combined, the companies have 30 million paid subscribers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Prepaid plans are disproportionately the plan of choice for low-income households, a spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said.
Tinder moves to encrypt photos
Tinder’s parent company Match Group has moved to encrypt its users’ photos. The changes actually went into effect back in February after Senator Ron Wyden wrote a letter to Tinder asking the company to encrypt photos given the risk that hackers would have been able to capture photos and swipe data via the Tinder app.
Netflix fires executive for racist comment
Finally, Netflix has fired its Chief Communications officer for using the n-word during a meeting and then using it again. The company says that Jonathan Friedland used the word at least twice. In a letter, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the 7-year Netflix veteran used the word in a meeting about offensive speech in an inappropriate and offensive way. Friedland then used the word again with two black employees in the HR department who were tasked with dealing with the incident. Hastings wrote that he should have addressed the first incident head on, instead, he wrote “I realize that my privilege has made me intellectualize or otherwise minimize race issues like this. I need to set a better example by learning and listening more so I can be the leader we need.” According to Netflix’s 2Q18 workforce demographics report, Blacks comprise just 4% of Netflix’s workforce despite the fact that nonhispanic blacks comprise 12.1% of the U.S. population, according to the latest U.S. Census.