LPM Tip

Source material: Directed resources for Massachusetts Data Privacy Compliance

Just because the year is coming to an end, and you're all excited to make those New Year's resolutions, that does not mean that you should forget entirely about 2010. In this case, you'll want to remember one of the more important legal developments from this year: the Massachusetts data privacy laws and regulations became effective March 1, 2010.

If you have not yet reached compliance with the new rules, or if you want to make sure that you're doing it right, you can access information directly from the commonwealth:

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has a page dedicated to identity theft on its Web site, including related links, most helpfully to the Attorney General's Guide on Identity Theft for Victims and Consumers. Also available is a page covering Guidance for Businesses on Security Breaches with relevant links and sample documents.

Similarly, the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation has created a page that offers useful information for businesses related to identity theft. There, you'll find a number of helpful PDF documents, including a Small Business Guide for Formulating a Comprehensive Written Information Security Program and the 201 CMR 17.00 Compliance Checklist, and a scroll for news and updates related to Massachusetts data privacy. OCABR also provides consumer-focused information here, as does the Attorney General's Office does, if you're looking for that side of the story.

Tip courtesy of Jared Correia, Law Practice Management Advisor, Law Office Management Assistance Program.

Published December 16, 2010

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