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In 2015, a group of non-government organizations (NGOs) filed a petition with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), asking CPSC to categorically ban additive organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs) from the market in the U.S. in many significant consumer product categories. OFRs include a very broad set of diverse chemical compounds added to consumer products

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In line with the chairs of other U.S. government agencies and commissions, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Elliot F. Kaye has resigned his seat as chairman, according to internal sources. Pursuant to the commissioners’ unanimous vote on January 19, 2017, Vice Chair Ann Marie Buerkle assumes the role of Acting Chair until a

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Mega-retailer Best Buy agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle allegations that the company distributed and sold recalled products, a violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) after the 2008 amendments. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff alleged that the retailer sold more than 600 recalled units, including over 400 Canon cameras, to

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We have updated our summary of state data breach notification laws in light of recent amendments to some of the laws since our last update in September 2015.

Notably, Tennessee amended its data breach notification law, the Identity Theft Deterrence Act, effective July 1, 2016, by eliminating an encryption safe harbor and requiring that

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The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation 2016/69, Apr. 27, 2016), approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, was formally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on May 4, 2016, and will replace the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) effective May 28, 2018. This

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On April 22, 2016, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) added styrene to the Proposition 65 list of carcinogens. OEHHA maintains a list of chemicals required under Proposition 65 (formally, the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act) that are “known to the state” to be reproductive toxicants or carcinogens based on

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At its Open Meeting yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would apply the privacy protections in Section 222 of the Communications Act to broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The text of the NPRM, which reportedly seeks public comment on more than 500 questions relating to privacy and

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Members of the Federal Communications Commission, Nov. 2013
Members of the Federal Communications Commission, Nov. 2013

On the heels of the Open Internet Order adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to fellow Commissioners that would apply the privacy protections of the Communications Act to