Regardless of the size of your business, it’s critical that you work proactively to protect the sensitive and private information of your customers, clients and employees. While you might hear more often about data breaches at bigger companies, the reality is that smaller companies and organizations are often targeted and typically have limited data security protections in place. Your approach to protecting your company from a data breach must be comprehensive.

Under a new federal law, individuals have a right to post truthful negative reviews about a product or service provider. That’s the case even if they previously signed an agreement that prohibited such reviews. Over the past few years, this controversial business practice of including non-disparagement clauses in contracts or terms of service has led to a number of lawsuits. These so-called “gag clauses” are intended to deter customers from writing negative reviews, and require them

Over the past couple of years, more than 200 plaintiffs have sued businesses nationwide arguing that their websites fail to provide access to people with certain disabilities, alleging a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. More recently, a law firm based in Pittsburgh sent demand letters to businesses, banks and others saying that they were willing to “work constructively” toward compliance for a fee. While court rulings on whether the ADA applies to websites have

It’s becoming popular for companies to pay social media users with big followings to endorse their products or share content about their brand. It’s a great way to get your message out to a wider network of target customers in an authentic way. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is paying attention and enforcing rules that say you can’t do it without disclosing the relationship. Recently, the FTC reached settlements with such brands as Lord &

It’s pretty common for businesses of all sizes to sell products on sites like Amazon or eBay. So imagine one day receiving a “take-down notice” informing you that the site is taking down your listings because another party has demanded it under a federal law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). According to the notice, the other party says your goods infringe its copyrights. If you ever receive such a notice, be sure to look

Most businesses with 10 or more employees must keep records of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. This OSHA rule is intended to help businesses identify and address occupational hazards. Under new OSHA rules, however, many businesses will also have to submit their records to OSHA itself, which apparently plans to make them public, at least in some form. Businesses with 20 or more workers must begin submitting OSHA Form 300A starting July 1, 2017. In addition,

For a business, a bad online review can help determine whether new clients flock in the door. But if someone writes such a review on Yelp or any other website, you might be out of luck. In a recent case in California, a federal appeals court decided that an angry business owner who got a one-star rating from a customer couldn’t sue Yelp.

It’s even easier for employees and former employees to sue businesses for retaliation under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s new enforcement guidance. For the first time since 1998, the agency has updated its guidance on the claim, which is already “asserted in nearly 45 percent of all charges … and is the most frequently alleged basis of discrimination,” it said. Needless to say, preventing a claim is much better than defending one, and retaliation often occurs

Any business would jump at the chance to dictate the order of organic Internet search results that include its name. But that’s not so easy. Still, a judge in Florida recently told a well-known, international company that it must find a way to do exactly that. And in the vast world of the web, it’s a cautionary tale for businesses of all sizes. The case involves a Gainesville, Fla., company, Uber Promotions, which has a regional

If you have a policy that requires drug testing after a workplace accident or injury, you may need to change it as a result of new rules issued by OSHA. The new rules generally require that companies have a reporting procedure in place for work-related injuries and illnesses, and prohibit them from discouraging workers from reporting injuries. The catch is that, according to OSHA, a policy that requires drug testing after a workplace accident could discourage