In 2018, privacy and data security crossed a number of thresholds. In the public mind, through high-profile data breaches and revelations about unexpected uses of personal information, questions of privacy became much more salient. In the legal and regulatory arena, both the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act became clear catalysts for a global transformation in the coming years of privacy practices. Finally, new technologies suggest that flux and complexity we are currently experiencing will continue, as we face new challenges and new threats to privacy.

This collection of essays addresses each of these issues. The essays collected here were each originally published as a series of posts on Foley Hoag’s Security, Privacy, and the Law as part of the blog’s 2019 “Year in Preview” series. Collected here together, they provide a holistic overview of trends affecting organizations managing personal information (and the regulations surrounding them) in 2019 and beyond.