OMB Receives Final Rule Permitting Disclosure To NICS --According to reginfo.gov, the White House Office of Management and Budget received a final rule from HHS that would modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule to expressly permit certain HIPAA covered entities to disclose to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) the identities of individuals who are subject to a federal “mental health prohibitor” that disqualifies them from possessing or receiving a firearm. The final rule comes just over a year after the January 7, 2014 proposed rule.

A New Era For EU Data Privacy – King & Spalding partners Phyllis Sumner and Pulina Whitaker, and associate Clare Lynch, recently reported on the changes to the EU Data Privacy regime and the ramifications on U.S. companies in the future.  The article, published in Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, provides an update on the status and progress of the Data Protection Regulation, including the appointment of data protection officers and notifications of data breaches.  It also addresses, among other things, the Google case on the “Right to be Forgotten” and the new Network and Information Security directive.  Please click here to access the article.