Now more than ever, technology is influencing the way we do business, communicate, move through and around the world, access and manage our homes, receive and administer healthcare, make purchases, secure information, and protect our most valuable property. Morrison Foerster keeps pace with this rapidly evolving landscape across our internationally recognized corporate, finance, intellectual property, and litigation practices. MoFo Tech brings together our insights relating to fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and as-a-service technologies, driverless cars, drones, fintech, computer hardware and software, the Internet of Things, semiconductors, and telecommunications. The MoFo Tech blog offers real-time, in-depth analyses of the trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Scott Llewellyn’s practice focuses on complex litigation in federal and state courts around the country, with an emphasis on patent and trade secret disputes. Over the past decade, he has worked on some of the most significant, high–profile IP cases involving technology for televisions, smartphones, and self–driving cars, relying on 40 years of experience with computer hardware and software. Scott also has significant experience with business divorce cases before courts and arbitrators, involving a mix of trade secret, patent, tort, and contract claims relating to technology development and implementation.Scott also has successfully tried general commercial arbitration and agency matters, briefed and argued various appeals in federal appellate court, and tried more than 20 cases for the Denver City Attorney’s office, most of them jury trials.Scott also has an active pro bono practice, having worked on a variety of criminal and immigration appeals, and having represented Colorado criminal defense and mental health organizations in high–profile suits against the state of Colorado for violations of the constitutional rights of defendants.At MoFo, Scott serves on the board of the Morrison & Foerster Foundation. In the broader legal community, he serves on the boards of the Colorado Lawyers Committee and Drop in the Bucket (a charity that builds wells and sanitation systems in sub–Saharan Africa).After law school, Scott clerked for the Honorable Clarence A. Brimmer, District of Wyoming, and the Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Ninth Circuit. He was also previously an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.

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Partner

Scott Llewellyn’s practice involves complex litigation before state and federal courts around the country, with an emphasis on patent and trade secret disputes for high-tech companies, to which he brings more than 35 years of experience with computer hardware and software, in particular relating to the processing and transmission of audio, video, voice, and other types of data. Mr. Llewellyn has also tried commercial arbitration and agency matters; briefed and argued various appeals in federal appellate court; and tried more than 20 cases for the Denver city attorney’s office, most of them jury trials.

Scott F. Llewellyn

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MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

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MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

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Current State of the AI VC Financing Market

MoFo Tech Law Summit – Tech and Antitrust: Policy Shifts in the Second Trump Administration

MoFo Tech Law Summit – Responsible Tech: Policy Becomes Practice

AI Dynamics: Regulatory Landscape and Industry Insights

Introducing the MoFo Tech Law Summit – Innovation Under Regulation

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The European Union is supposed to have the strongest data protection laws in the world. So why do privacy violations continue to make the headlines? I believe that the lack of material privacy compliance is not due to lack of enforcement, but is due to a fundamental flaw in our European data protection laws. Our laws are supposed to ensure people’s autonomy by providing choices about how their data is collected and used. In a world driven by artificial intelligence, we, however, can no longer understand what is happening to our data, and the concept of free choice is undermined by the very technology our laws aim to protect us against. The underlying logic of data-processing operations and the purposes for which they are used have now become so complex that they can only be described by means of intricate privacy policies that are simply not comprehensible to the average citizen. Further, the reality is that organizations find inscrutable ways of meeting information and consent requirements in a way that discourages individuals from specifying their true preferences, and, therefore, they often simply feel forced to click “OK” to obtain access to services.Our data protection laws have resulted in what Prof. Corien Prins and I have named mechanical proceduralism (read <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2784123" target="_blank">here</a>), whereby organizations go through the mechanics of notice and consent without any reflection on whether the relevant use of data is legitimate in the first place. In other words, the current preoccupation with what is legal is distracting us from asking what is legitimate to do with data. We even see this reflected in the highest EU court having to decide whether a pre-ticked box constitutes consent (surprise: it does not). Privacy legislation needs to regain its role of determining what is and what is not permissible. Instead of a legal system based on consent, we need to re-think the social contract for our digital society, by having the difficult discussion around where the red lines for data use should lie, rather than passing the responsibility for a fair digital society to individuals to make choices they cannot fully comprehend. Read our <a href="https://www.mofo.com/resources/insights/200521-eu-data-protection-laws.html">client alert</a>.

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Senior Of Counsel

Among the world’s best-known privacy and cybersecurity advisers, Lokke Moerel is regularly called upon by some of the most sophisticated multinational organizations to confront their global privacy and ethical challenges. Lokke routinely offers guidance to clients when implementing new technologies and digital business models and assists them with their global cybersecurity incident response and regulatory investigations.

Lokke Moerel

Lokke Moerel is among the world’s best-known privacy lawyers. She advises companies on their global information handling governance, strategy, and compliance. “An authority on data protection matters” (Chambers 2014), Lokke is consistently ranked as a leader in data protection law in Chambers Global and Legal 500. She is also professor of global ICT law at Tilburg University, member of the Cyber Security Council of the Netherlands, the advisory body of the Dutch cabinet, and member of the Board of Trustees of WWF International.What do you like best about your work? I enjoy thinking about the data privacy issues and ethical dilemma’s presented by the new technologies, and helping companies decide on how to tune them and implement on a global basis, in an emerging regulatory environment.What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Travel with my husband and three children, the modern arts, but most of all, a good book!What individual most inspired you, and why? In my former EU-based firm, there were no female role- models (I was the first female partner with children) and partners step out at age 55. After moving to MoFo, I met women years older than me and fully at the forefront of their field. What an inspiration! I still have a whole career in front of me.

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EU Data Protection Laws Are Not Fit For Purpose: They Undermine the Very Autonomy of the Individuals They Set Out to Protect

EU Data Protection Laws Are Not Fit For Purpose: They Undermine the Very Autonomy of the Individuals They Set Out to Protect

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The European Union is supposed to have the strongest data protection laws in the world. So why do privacy violations continue to make the headlines? I believe t

As in-house counsel, compliance, and security teams worldwide are adjusting to life amid the global pandemic, so too are criminal and nation-state cyber actors. These actors are now leveraging the pandemic, public fear, and an expanded remote-work attack surface to conduct hacking campaigns. The Department of Justice, FBI, and other law enforcement organizations have prioritized the detection, investigation, and prosecution of criminal conduct seeking to exploit the pandemic. As noted in a joint statement this week from the Secret Service and FBI, “the more catastrophic the event, the more active the fraudsters.” Resource pages developed by the FBI and DOJ are being frequently updated with information and alerts for the private sector and public about evolving schemes and enforcement. Companies can leverage these resources as they adapt to the new environment and educate their workforce. Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/lZ8lCmZM8ki3wRRquOf_rS?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a> For more information about Coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness, please visit our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/3cB8Cn5N7lH2066VhNf03o?domain=www2.mofo.com">Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center</a>.

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Law Enforcement COVID-19 Guidance: Cybercrime, Scam, and Fraud Trends

Practical Considerations for Requiring Employees to Report to Work in Light of COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders

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As in-house counsel, compliance, and security teams worldwide are adjusting to life amid the global pandemic, so too are criminal and nation-state cyber actors.

Law Enforcement COVID-19 Guidance: Cybercrime, Scam, and Fraud Trends

On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that, effective immediately, it will be halting enforcement of certain HIPAA provisions in order to enable state and federal public health authorities and emergency operations centers to more efficiently collect COVID-19 patient data directly from regulated service providers in the healthcare industry (Business Associates). Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/blv-CBBROvirxrMpU6B-Kg?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a> For more information about Coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness, please visit our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/csnkCDkJ6xUz7znNFAAZVw?domain=www2.mofo.com">Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center</a>.

HHS Suspends Penalties to Encourage Sharing of COVID-19 Data by Business Associates

On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that, effective immediately, it will be haltin

HHS Suspends Penalties to Encourage Sharing of COVID-19 Data by Business Associates

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the California Attorney General’s office published a 2nd set of modifications to the draft regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). These still are not the Attorney General’s final CCPA regulations but rather further modified draft regulations that are subject to a new public comment period. The deadline to submit written comments on the 2nd set of modified CCPA draft regulations is March 27, 2020, at 5:00 pm (PST). Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/C69tCG6QzAURLProc79TYv?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a>

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Of Counsel

Mary Race assists clients with a wide range of challenging privacy compliance and data security matters. Her practice focuses on managing privacy risks and helping clients develop and implement comprehensive privacy programs across a variety of industries, including tech, retail, manufacturing, advertising, social media, and communications.

Mary Race

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Marian Waldmann Agarwal is a partner in the Privacy + Data Security Group at Morrison Foerster. She also co-leads the firm’s Artificial Intelligence Group and is a member of the global Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Steering Committee.

Marian Waldmann Agarwal

Marian A. Waldmann Agarwal

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California Attorney General Issues 2nd Set of Modified Draft CCPA Regulations

The Madden Saga Continues: On Remand, Madden Survives Summary Judgment and District Court Certifies Class

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On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the California Attorney General’s office published a 2nd set of modifications to the draft regulations under the California Consum

California Attorney General Issues 2nd Set of Modified Draft CCPA Regulations

As recent reporting highlights, cybercriminals and nation-state actors are already seizing on this moment of panic and misinformation to use traditional hacking methods to steal data — from using interactive maps with Coronavirus infection statistics to plant malware on devices to phishing scams where hackers pose as CDC officials. While the response to COVID-19 has rightly been focused on its human toll, and as organizations take action to confront the threat posed by COVID-19, they must also prepare for the uptick in cybersecurity risks that we are seeing. Below are practical tips that can be implemented quickly without the need to rebuild your IT infrastructure or redraft policies (which likely will not be feasible in the immediate term).Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/4SUdCzpxQASZnAGzhXhkIh?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a>For more information about Coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness, please visit our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/lt7kCAD9WrHXVzZ5h9lG-E?domain=www2.mofo.com">Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center</a>.

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Few lawyers in the world have Miriam Wugmeister’s breadth and understanding of privacy and data security laws, obligations, and practices. 

Miriam H. Wugmeister | Privacy and Data Security Lawyer

Few lawyers in the world have Miriam Wugmeister's breadth and understanding of privacy and data security laws, obligations, and practices. In the words of her clients, she is “extremely practical and phenomenally smart. Just about one of the best privacy advisers there is” (Chambers USA). Co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s market-leading Global Privacy and Data Security Group and ranked among the top in the profession by all major directories, Ms. Wugmeister is regularly called upon by some of the world’s largest and most complex multinational organizations to confront their most difficult U.S. and international privacy challenges. “Tremendous at helping you come up with practical solutions to real problems” (Chambers USA), she develops cutting-edge solutions for clients that marry legal compliance with business realities.

Miriam Wugmeister

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Cybersecurity Tips in the Age of Remote-Work Arrangements

Coronavirus: Steps Employers Should Be Taking

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As recent reporting highlights, cybercriminals and nation-state actors are already seizing on this moment of panic and misinformation to use traditional hacking

Cybersecurity Tips in the Age of Remote-Work Arrangements

A late-2019 amendment to New York’s telemarketing law, AB 117, prohibits telemarketers from knowingly making certain kinds of prerecorded sales calls to consumers who are located in a county, city, town, or village that is under a state of emergency or disaster emergency. The amended law applies to prerecorded telemarketing calls made to natural persons absent either the request of the called person or an established business relationship with the person. Since this amendment is recent, and made no change other than this prohibition, many businesses may not yet have incorporated the ban into their telemarketing compliance programs. Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/GFDKCwpR2xSmR5JjIq6T_D?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a>

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Amendment To New York Telemarketing Law Bans Some Sales Calls to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Affected Areas

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A late-2019 amendment to New York’s telemarketing law, AB 117, prohibits telemarketers from knowingly making certain kinds of prerecorded sales calls to consume

Amendment To New York Telemarketing Law Bans Some Sales Calls to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Affected Areas

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to be using its ongoing review of current rules and guides to revisit its approach to driving home the message that the relationship between a social media “influencer” and the brand he or she is endorsing must be disclosed. As we have described previously, the FTC has interpreted its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (the “Endorsement Guides”) to require that online advertisements — like all other advertising — clearly and conspicuously disclose material connections between endorsers (i.e., influencers) and the brands they promote because such connections may affect the credibility of the endorsement. And, in recent years, the FTC has — through enforcement actions, press releases, guidance, closing letters, and letters sent directly to endorsers (including prominent public figures) — made clear its belief that: (1) appropriate disclosures by influencers are essential to protecting consumers; and (2) in too many instances, such disclosures are absent from celebrity or other influencer endorsements. Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/-gXACkROBgiRpwmXuV397Z?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a>

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Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance c

Julie O'Neill

Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance challenges around a wide variety of both online and offline privacy issues, including tracking, interest-based advertising, geo-targeting and other mobile tracking, personalization, and cross-device tracking. Recognized in The Legal 500 US 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020 and Chambers USA 2021 for her exceptional legal work, her clients praise her saying, “She is really good at giving practical, targeted advice and taking stock of what the risk profile of the client is, so that the advice is holistic.” (Chambers USA 2021).

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Fake News & Paid Reviews: FTC Seeks Comments on its Endorsement Guides

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to be using its ongoing review of current rules and guides to revisit its approach to driving home the message that t

Fake News & Paid Reviews: FTC Seeks Comments on its Endorsement Guides

On Friday, February 7, the California Attorney General’s office published a modified set of draft regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). These are not the Attorney General’s final CCPA regulations but rather are a modified set of draft regulations that are subject to a new public comment period. The deadline to submit written comments on the modified CCPA draft regulations is February 25, 2020 at 5:00 pm (PST).  Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/8klSCv29RwtPXgAruXpF7L?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a>

California Attorney General Issues Modified CCPA Draft Regulations

On Friday, February 7, the California Attorney General’s office published a modified set of draft regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”)

California Attorney General Issues Modified CCPA Draft Regulations

It all happened quite quietly in the end. The legislation that governs the UK’s exit from the EU became law and the UK left the EU at 11 p.m. UK time/midnight CET on January 31, 2020. Read our <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/InriCyPJ7zfQm9VzsMG63e?domain=www2.mofo.com">client alert.</a>

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Managing Partner, London

Annabel is a partner at Morrison Foerster and co-Managing Partner of the London office.

Annabel Gillham

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Not with a Bang but a Whimper: As the UK Bows Out of the EU, What's Next for UK Data Protection?

Court Allows Microsoft to Challenge Secrecy of User Data Requests

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It all happened quite quietly in the end. The legislation that governs the UK’s exit from the EU became law and the UK left the EU at 11 p.m. UK time/midnight C

Not with a Bang but a Whimper: As the UK Bows Out of the EU, What's Next for UK Data Protection?

<p style="background-color: transparent;box-sizing: border-box;color: rgb(33, 37, 41);font-size: 16px;font-variant-numeric: normal;font-variant-east-asian: normal;line-height: 26.4px;margin-bottom: 16px;margin-top: 0px;">Morrison & Foerster senior counsel Lokke Moerel authored an op-ed for IAPP’s Privacy Perspectives that discusses why risk management best practice is not fit for digital innovation. <p style="background-color: transparent;box-sizing: border-box;color: rgb(33, 37, 41);font-size: 16px;font-variant-numeric: normal;font-variant-east-asian: normal;line-height: 26.4px;margin-bottom: 16px;margin-top: 0px;">Lokke argues that innovation requires a culture of openness and transparency where joint decisions about the design of services and the risks that need to be taken can be made. <p style="background-color: transparent;box-sizing: border-box;color: rgb(33, 37, 41);font-size: 16px;font-variant-numeric: normal;font-variant-east-asian: normal;line-height: 26.4px;margin-bottom: 16px;margin-top: 0px;">Read the <a style="background-color: transparent;box-sizing: border-box;color: rgb(3, 65, 147);text-decoration-line: none;transition-duration: 0.2s;transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.42, 0, 0.58, 1);transition-delay: 0s;transition-property: color;" target="_blank" href="https://iapp.org/news/a/why-this-risk-management-best-practice-is-not-fit-for-digital-innovation/">full article</a>.

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Why the Three Lines of Defense Model for Risk Management is Not Fit for Digital Innovation

Don’t Get Caught by the Phisherman’s Hook This Tax Season

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Morrison & Foerster senior counsel Lokke Moerel authored an op-ed for IAPP’s Privacy Perspectives that discusses why risk management best practice is not fit fo

Why the Three Lines of Defense Model for Risk Management is Not Fit for Digital Innovation