
The FTC’s recent publication, FTC Safeguards Rule: What Your Business Needs to Know (the “Guide”), provides a helpful overview of the FTC’s recent Safeguards Rule amendments. The FTC’s Safeguards Rule is applicable to “financial institutions,” such as private funds, subject to the FTC’s jurisdiction but not the jurisdiction of another regulator under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Ropes & Gray has previous reviewed the Safeguards Rule amendments here and here. The Guide does not break any substantial new ground but does provide a useful summary of the Safeguards Rule’s security requirements along with additional details regarding the controls the FTC considers part of a reasonable information security program.
The Guide identifies nine elements of an information security program required under the Safeguards Rule. Companies that maintain personal information regarding fewer than 5,000 consumers are not subject to all of these requirements, as summarized further here. Additionally, companies are not required to have in place all of the controls described until December of this year, but should work toward implementation now, as many will require time intensive processes.
Continue Reading FTC Publishes Guide to Safeguards Rule Compliance Applicable to Private Funds