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Zachary Heck

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Zach’s practice focuses on privacy and data security. Specifically, Zach assists clients in the areas of privacy compliance, defense litigation, class action defense and guidance in the aftermath of an information security event, including data breach. Zach has experience advising clients with respect to FTC investigations, federal privacy regulations such as HIPAA, FCRA, TCPA, and GLBA, as well as state laws governing personally identifiable information. For his clients, he also provides regulatory analysis, risk management, policy development, training and audits.

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This month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, which is intended to strengthen cybersecurity requirements for HIPAA-covered entities and business associates (the Proposed Rule). The comment period will close on March 7, 2025, with enactment of the proposed rule expected to take place later this year.

If adopted, this would be the first significant update to the HIPAA Security Rule in over a decade, a time when both technology and cybersecurity have advanced rapidly, and cyberattacks in health care have become more frequent and damaging. According to the preamble, the proposed rule seeks to address common compliance gaps identified by HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and to build on guidelines from other agencies like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).Continue Reading HIPAA Security Rule to Experience Major Updates in 2025

A new year means new effective dates for state privacy legislation.  On January 1, 2025, four states witnessed consumer privacy protection laws take effect:  Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, and New Hampshire. 

These four states join another 16 that have comprehensive data privacy laws in place. Although there are similarities in the approaches of these 20 states, each law carries unique provisions that companies must navigate in building a data governance program. This blog is intended to give a high-level overview of 2025’s newest consumer privacy laws.Continue Reading New Year Rings in New State Privacy Laws

Hard to believe, but 2025 will be here before you know it. And what goes best with a new year? A countdown list!

Last week, I spoke at the Dayton Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Section on the topic of the Top 10 legal technology issues that in-house counsel should have on its radar for 2025. Continue Reading Top 10 Technology Issues to Watch for in 2025

Last week, Taft’s Privacy and Data Security team sponsored and presented at Northern Kentucky University’s (NKU) 17th Annual Cybersecurity Symposium. Our presentation centered on (i) new consumer health data laws being enacted at the state level across the country; (ii) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act’s heightened focus on businesses’ use of health information and (iii) the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Although these laws have overlapping data points and serve a similar objective of protecting health data, the obligations placed on entities regulated under each law differ. Therefore, it is crucial for organizations collecting health data to learn about these laws, determine how, if at all, they apply to your organization and comply with the obligations outlined under each applicable law.

Below, we have prepared a summary of some obligations that these laws require of regulated companies.  Please note that the summary below is not intended to be an exhaustive list of obligations imposed under each law.Continue Reading Health Data and its Many Obligations – An Overview of the Expanding Scope of Health Data Laws in the United States

Three years after the European Commission’s (Commission) adoption of the updated Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), new clauses are on the horizon.

The Commission announced a recent initiative in which the SCCs would be open for public consultation beginning the fourth quarter of 2024, with potential updates to the SCCs being adopted by the Commission in the second quarter of 2025 (2025 Clauses). These 2025 Clauses offer the Commission the opportunity to address any gaps left by the current SCCs adopted on June 4, 2021.Continue Reading Another Update Already? New EU Standard Contractual Clauses on the Horizon to Further Safeguard Cross Border Data Transfers

On Aug. 15, the DoD issued another proposed rule regarding the forthcoming Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standard. As part of the release, the DoD proposed some additional verbiage for the DFARS regarding future cybersecurity obligations and offered clarifications of the requirements that it put out last December. The release also set Oct. 15, 2024 as the due date for any comments.

The rule’s highlights were split between the new, or somewhat new, additional verbiage and DoD’s clarifications of the details that it previously released. Below is a discussion of the most significant highlights:Continue Reading Is It Still CMMC 2.0? DoD Clarifies the Forthcoming Cybersecurity Standard

Last week, Vermont Governor Phil Scott vetoed one of the most-watched pieces of privacy legislation in the United States: the Vermont Data Privacy Act (VDPA). Described in H.121 as “an act relating to enhancing consumer privacy and the age-appropriate design code,” was passed by the Vermont legislature in the early morning hours on May 11, 2024. The act represented a seismic change in domestic consumer privacy rights. However, Governor Scott returned H.121 without signature, effectively vetoing the would-be watershed bill.Continue Reading Not So Fast: Vermont Governor VETOES Private Right of Action for Consumer Privacy Violations

Just past midnight on May 11, 2024, the Vermont legislature passed the Vermont Data Privacy Act (VDPA). VDPA, if signed by Governor Phil Scott, will take effect on July 1, 2025, and will make Vermont the 18th state to establish consumer privacy rights in the same vein as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Although many state consumer privacy laws feel cookie cutter at this point, VDPA contains nuances that will require companies to strategize data management intake and processing.Continue Reading While You Were Sleeping, Vermont Passed One of the Most Stringent State Consumer Privacy Laws Yet

Artificial intelligence, referred to as “AI” for short, has had an outsized impact on nearly every aspect of human existence. If that sounds like an overstatement, it’s not— machine learning systems and generative AI tools have now been integrated into various sectors of life including healthcare, government services, industry, and education. In 2023, more than 50% of US companies reported using AI for cybersecurity/fraud management, and 97% of business owners expressed enthusiasm that AI platforms like ChatGPT will help their businesses. Several cities and municipalities have adopted protocols for how local government may use and rely upon AI as part of day-to-day duties. 

Unsurprisingly, the law has lagged well behind the impressive speed of AI’s ballooning technological development. This notwithstanding, various governmental agencies, legislative bodies, and courts have begun to assemble a regulatory regime which may help answer the million-dollar question in this brave new world: who, or what, is liable when AI goes wrong?Continue Reading Artificial Intelligence, Real Liability: Who’s on the hook when things go wrong?

Yesterday, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) issued its first enforcement advisory regarding the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  Enforcement Advisory No. 2024-01(the Advisory) is solely devoted to data minimalization, which the CPPA describes as “a foundational principle in the CCPA.” An enforcement advisory is not an implementing rule, regulation, or law; it is not even an interpretation of the law or legal advice. Instead, CPPA enforcement advisories are intended to be informational bulletins to inform the public about nascent legal privacy issues that CPPA is engaging with at a given time. Continue Reading California Privacy Protection Agency Issues “Minimal” Guidance on CCPA in First Enforcement Advisory