Businesses that use, collect, process or store identifiable information about employees, customers, clients and third-party individuals face ever more complex liability issues under emerging privacy laws in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to common law principles that cut across industries, there is an increasingly complex array of state and federal privacy legislation addressing areas as diverse as national security, money laundering, personal medical and financial privacy, employment, civil rights, reputational protection, protection of commercial information and the transborder exchange of electronic information.

Moses & Singer's Privacy practice group includes transactional and litigation attorneys experienced in corporate and banking, healthcare, employment, internet and new media ventures, entertainment, and intellectual property. We identify privacy issues for clients, counsel them on avoiding problems, perform compliance audits, structure transactions and draft agreements to protect clients and, when needed, represent clients in privacy-related litigation.

The firm represents a spectrum of businesses across industry sectors regarding privacy issues that arise both domestically and internationally. These include financial institutions, new media companies, healthcare providers, health plans, content providers, and major corporations.

Health Information

Moses & Singer is at the forefront of medical records privacy law. We advise large healthcare entities, including providers, insurers, hospitals and academic medical centers on state and Federal privacy laws related to the provision of healthcare, research (including human-subject research), and the complex privacy issues that insurers and employers face with regard to sensitive information held by them.

We are nationally recognized for our focus on HIPAA Privacy Rules , having written and lectured extensively on all facets of the law. We have advised and assisted our clients in performing audits of their privacy practices and the development and implementation of their HIPAA Privacy Rule compliance plans. In addition, we have drafted a complete set of the HIPAA Privacy Rule-compliant policies and procedures that are used by entities across the nation. We provide assistance on all elements of the Federal and state privacy laws, including issues related to drafting and customizing HIPAA Privacy Rule compliant policies and procedures; identifying a client's "business associates" and negotiating business associate agreements; drafting required authorization forms; the interaction between the HIPAA Privacy Rule and other Federal laws including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and Federal law regarding the protection of human research subjects; and state privacy laws and preemption issues regarding state law versus the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Financial Information

Moses & Singer advises U.S. and international financial institutions, securities firms, credit card issuers and other organizations on issues relating to the privacy of customer information. We advise clients on the laws relevant to all aspects of the collection and dissemination of identifiable information regarding individuals, including Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Reform Act. Banking transactions as well as the storage and exchange of financial information are occurring electronically on a much more frequent basis. Moses & Singer assists its clients engaged in storing and exchanging data electronically across borders in navigating European Union privacy directives.

Privacy Practices in the Workplace

We counsel clients on privacy issues in the workplace, such as the right of employees to access personnel files; eavesdropping and surveillance issues; privacy issues related to hiring and termination; and personal intrusion issues such as drug testing, voice print testing, and polygraph testing. We advise clients regarding emerging employment privacy issues such as the rights of employees to privacy with respect to their activities outside of the workplace and the rights of employers to monitor such off-duty activities.

Corporate Transactions

Moses & Singer represents its public, private, and not-for-profit clients on a variety of privacy issues, such as protection of commercial information and trade secrets, managing their legal exposure in the privacy area and protecting client privacy and reputational interests in bankruptcy proceedings and other litigation.

Intellectual Property/New Media

We represent clients on a variety of privacy concerns that arise in the entertainment, advertising and intellectual property contexts. For example, Moses & Singer attorneys advise individual clients on how to protect their right of publicity and institutional clients on how to avoid right of publicity violations. Attorneys in this practice group also keep their clients current on new laws upon which privacy concerns have had an effect, such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the associated protections available to individuals when faced with technology that collects personal information.

Moses & Singer has a national reputation as a leader in privacy issues unique to the internet and new media ventures. We are frequently called upon to counsel clients in developing, implementing and managing privacy policies and protocols that serve their needs while taking into account their customers' desire to control what is done with their personal information. We advise clients on existing and pending legislation that could impact upon their business practices, such as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as well as the FTC's enforcement activities regarding adherence by companies to their own privacy policies.

International Laws

We assist clients who conduct business internationally with complicated cross-border privacy issues. These issues arise under the European Union's Data Protection Directive, and its Safe Harbor provisions. For companies in certain industries to which the Safe Harbor is not available, such as financial institutions and telecommunications companies, Moses & Singer attorneys draw on their expertise to provide solutions that comply with the EU directive.

USA Patriot Act

Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. The Act gives the Secretary of the Treasury broad powers to combat corruption of financial institutions for money laundering purposes, particularly with respect to activities involving foreign entities and individuals. Moses & Singer advised financial institutions on their compliance obligations under the Act, including obligations to file "Suspicious Activity Reports," and implementing new customer identification standards in order to verify the identity of foreign customers. We can assist clients in establishing and maintaining required anti-money laundering programs, including the drafting of policies and procedures, the identification of a compliance officer, employee training, and the development of independent audits in order to test the institution's compliance efforts.

For more information please email us at privacyinfo@mosessinger.com