INSIDE COMPLIANCE

COVID-19 Vaccine Passports and Privacy Concerns

April 22, 2021Marcella SlayUncategorized

As businesses begin to reopen and resume operations after the pandemic, there are discussions surrounding possible vaccine passports and the concerns protecting individuals’ personal health information. COVID-19 vaccines are becoming more available within the country and more Americans feel safe to resume their normal lives. Many states and businesses are contemplating the idea of making vaccine passports a requirement for travel and large events. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) was created to protect personal health information. As other countries are beginning to require proof of vaccination, many are contemplating whether vaccine passports are permitted by HIPAA or if the requirement will actually violate the federal health privacy law.

COVID-19HHSHIPAAPrivacy & Securityprivacy lawsPrivacy RuleRegulationVaccine

Reining in Tax Havens

April 21, 2021Noah CicurelFraud & Abuse

Shortly after Bristol Myers Squibb filed to create an offshore subsidiary in Ireland, the IRS took notice. The large drug manufacturer’s actions would now allow them to attribute some of its patent rights and medications to the subsidiary, and therefore subject to a twelve and a half percent Irish corporate tax rate, which is far less than the current twenty one percent rate in the United States. Additionally, while Bristol Myers had maximized the write offs and deductions for their products in the United States, the Irish deductions would now offset the U.S. taxes.

American Jobs Plancorporate taxIRStaxtax compliance

The Aircraft Certification Process under the Federal Aviation Administration

April 21, 2021Alexandria NunnUncategorized

Though the idea of a plane crash or any other incident with air travel is extremely unsettling, only about one accident per 2.5 million flights is fatal. Additionally, plane crashes also have about a ninety-five percent survivability rate. The regulations behind aviation are designed to implement the highest safety standards in all aircraft to prevent injury from occurring. The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) that manages commercial and general aviation flights with a mission to provide safe air travel. The FAA is a crucial part of what makes air travel safe.

RegulationTransportation

Together we go … to the White House?: The Cybersecurity Risks of Peloton

April 20, 2021Jacqueline BrownThe Marketplace, Uncategorized

Peloton has a coined the term “together we go far” as their company slogan, and over the course of this year that is exactly what this company has done. Since the company launched in 2012, Peloton has gone far and wide delivering their fitness technology to millions of people across the globe. Peloton is an international company that designs at-home gym equipment and produces virtual workout classes for their customers to live-stream or watch on-demand through their Peloton products. Peloton provides an outlet for fitness and competition while building a positive and inclusive community for their members across the United States and the world. Of the millions of members in the Peloton community, one is our leading man in office President Joe Biden.

Privacy & SecurityRegulation

Crypto Confusion Leads to Legislative Action: Multiple Bills Introduced to Clarify Federal Regulation of Cryptocurrencies

April 19, 2021Lydia BayleyFinance & Banking

Cryptocurrencies have often been associated with illegal activities due to the fact that they allow users to remain relatively anonymous. This anonymity is possible because, when transacting with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you can see where funds are being sent but not who sent or received them. However, there are signs that the use of crypto for unlawful purposes may be falling with illicit activity accounting for just 0.34% of all crypto transactions last year – down from roughly 2% a year earlier. Despite this improvement, cryptocurrency regulation appears to remain a top priority for federal lawmakers. One such example of this is the proposal of an anti-money laundering rule which would require people who hold their cryptocurrency in a private digital wallet to undergo identity checks if they make transactions of $3,000 or more. But Congress does not appear to be stopping there. As cryptocurrencies surged in value in recent days, lawmakers jumped to introduce two new bills aimed at advancing regulation of these precarious digital assets.

BitcoinCommodity Futures Trading CommissionCryptocurrencycryptocurrency regulationEliminate Barriers to Innovation ActJournal of Regulatory ComplianceRegulationSecurities and Exchange CommissiontaxToken Taxonomy Act

Breaking Up the Monopoly on Antitrust

April 19, 2021Patrick GilsenanUncategorized

Antitrust laws regulate the concentration of economic power, the core of which was passed under the Sherman Act in 1890 and remain central to antitrust today. However, the laws are not applied today the way they were in their heyday of antitrust regulation – in the 1970s and 1980s, the Chicago School of Economics took hold over the courts’ antitrust jurisprudence, and since then the courts have been far more amiable to market concentration. The Chicago School’s economic analysis of law argued that big firms were not a threat to growth and prosperity and have successfully argued for a hands-off approach to monopolies and mergers outside of a narrow focus on consumer welfare.

AntitrustChicago School of EconomicsHipster AntitrustIndex FundsJournal of Regulatory ComplianceRegulation

It’s Not Too Early to Start Worrying About Discriminatory Algorithms in Your Code: A Practical Approach to Self-Regulation

April 16, 2021Richard HortonThe Art of Compliance

There’s no doubt that remote work, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, will accelerate the digital revolution already underway. Consumers’ growing appetite to conduct their business online, rather than in-person, has fueled the proliferation of digitally accessible products and services. For instance, movie theaters have closed their doors while content streaming services have experienced exponential growth. And while the restaurant industry, as a whole, has suffered, ‘virtual’ kitchens and grocery delivery apps have picked up steam. A critical question that arises from these trends is “what can be done to eliminate biases in the algorithms that drive these digital transactions?”

compliancedata privacyGDPRJournal of Regulatory CompliancePrivacy & Security

Chicago Legalizes Accessory Dwelling Units in Effort to Increase Affordable Housing Supply

April 16, 2021Zachary MauerUncategorized

Starting May 1, 2021, Accessory Dwelling Units (“ADUs”) will be legalized in five pilot areas around the city of Chicago. Chicago faces a declining population, a slow homebuilding pace, and an affordable housing gap of approximately 116,000 units. These ADUs are intended to increase access to affordable housing, but the ordinance isn’t expected to make a large impact on Chicago’s affordable housing gap.

Accessory Dwelling UnitsADUChicagoChicago Affordable HousingJournal of Regulatory Compliance

Updates to Autorenewal Regulations and Enforcement

April 15, 2021Liam KenneyUncategorized

In the age of online consumerism, many companies utilize automatic renewal programs to deliver their products and services to customers on a recurring basis for a monthly or annual charge. Recently, autorenewal programs have seen an increase in consumer protection through legislation at both the state and federal level along with enforcement actions brought by private plaintiffs, state attorney generals, and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). Organizations that utilize automatic renewal should be aware of the uptick in autorenewal program enforcement and look to strengthen and update their policies where appropriate.

autorenewalcompliancecompliance programCorporate ComplianceDisclosuresFTCFTC ActFTC enforcementinformed consentRegulationsubscription

The Supreme Court Revisits Article III Standing in TransUnion v. Ramirez

April 14, 2021Joseph HoUncategorized

In 1993, and on the heels of the landmark Article III standing case of Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, John G. Roberts, Jr. wrote a law review article entitled: “Article III Limits on Statutory Standing.” Twenty-eight years later and now the Chief Justice, Roberts again found himself wrestling over the bounds of the Article III Standing requirement as he presided over this issue in the class action context. Years after the Court decided Spokeo v. Robins in 2016 and Clapper v. Amnesty International in 2013, the Court revisited the matter and listened to oral arguments on March 30, 2021, in TransUnion v. Ramirez. The decision may have enormous consequences. While Acting U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar filed a “friend of the court” brief agreeing that standing exists, other briefs supporting TransUnion suggest that meritless class action lawsuits against corporate defendants from class members that aren’t injured will exponentially increase.

Article III Standingclass actiondata privacyFCRAJournal of Regulatory Compliance