As compliance professionals reflect upon the past year, many will look back with frustration on efforts taken to comply with the Department of Justice’s Data Security Program (the “DSP” or “Rule”). Not because the efforts taken were in vain, but because the DSP is one of the most complicated, amorphous, far-reaching, yet impactful U.S. government regulations in recent memory. Any organization that collects or has access to U.S. sensitive personal data—regardless of whether that data is anonymized, pseudonymized, de-identified, or encrypted—should be assessing its compliance with the DSP. In other words, nearly every organization in the U.S. and many outside the U.S. fall under the Rule.Continue Reading On the Fifth Day of Data… Reflections and Compliance Advice on the DOJ’s Data Security Program

On April 11, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released additional detail regarding the Final Rule implementing former President Biden’s Executive Order 14117, “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Final Rule”), which went into effect on April 8, 2025. The release included additional

Today, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Final Rule implementing former President Biden’s Executive Order 14117, “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Final Rule”) took effect.

Earlier this year, Ropes & Gray published an alert providing an overview of the Final Rule, material changes

On January 8, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) published its Final Rule to implement President Biden’s Executive Order 14117, “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Final Rule”). This follows the DOJ’s publication of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) in October 2024

Cybersecurity and national security collided in significant ways in 2024, with governments and private-sector entities grappling with the legal, technical, and policy challenges of a rapidly evolving cyber landscape. Offensive cyber operations, questions of foreign ownership of social media companies, and the balance of power between the Executive and Legislative branches are just a few of the pressing issues shaping the modern landscape. OAs governments and private entities grapple with these challenges, the legal frameworks governing cybersecurity are evolving rapidly, offering both opportunities and risks for practitioners.Continue Reading Deck the Halls with Cyber Walls: Navigating National Security in the Digital Age

On April 24, President Biden signed a sweeping foreign aid bill into law, which included a critical provision covering privacy and data transfers known as the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (“PADFA”). This Act is separate from the TikTok divestment portion of the legislation, which has received far greater attention in the press. 

On February 28, 2024, President Biden announced an Executive Order directing the Department of Justice to promulgate regulations that restrict or prohibit transactions involving certain bulk sensitive personal data or United States Government-related data and countries of concern or covered persons. The DOJ’s initially identified countries are China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Russia, Iran

On this episode of the R&G Tech Studio, litigation & enforcement partner Ama Adams, who’s also the managing partner of Ropes & Gray’s Washington, D.C. office, sits down with data, privacy & cybersecurity partner Fran Faircloth to discuss how she helps clients bridge the gap between ongoing national security concerns and the rapidly evolving

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law significant new federal data breach reporting legislation that could vastly expand data breach notice requirements far beyond regulated entities or entities processing personal data. Unceremoniously tucked as Division Y into the H.R. 2471 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of