As we all try to keep up with the Metaverse and as the healthcare system wilts under a data deluge, the convergence of realities in a shared online space is not merely a chance for practitioners and patients to find each other and interact in new ways, it’s also a rare opportunity to help a new paradigm sprout. The answers to detangling some sticky wickets of Health 2.0, like ensuring efficient, secure communications and exchanges between participants, may share a common thread: clear out (not just debug) the cobwebs and flip the crypt.

On May 6, 2022, the UK government outlined its plans to boost competition and drive economic growth and innovation in a major regulatory reform aimed at big tech. The news comes in the wake of fears that a handful of tech giants disproportionately dominate the market, subjecting smaller businesses to predatory prices and ultimately harming consumers through higher prices as well as limited options and control over their online experiences.

As we start 2022, as part of our Spotlight series, we connect with Reece Hirsch, the co-head of Morgan Lewis’s privacy and cybersecurity practice, to discuss the recent policy statement issued by the US Federal Trade Commission regarding the Health Breach Notification Rule and how it applies to health app developers that handle consumers’ sensitive health information. Our Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis blog also published a summary of the policy statement.

As 2021 comes to a close, we have once again compiled all the links to our Contract Corner blog posts, a regular feature of Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis. In these posts, members of our global technology, outsourcing, and commercial transactions practice highlight particular contract provisions, review the issues, and propose negotiating and drafting tips.

Over the last year, companies implemented new digital technology solutions at record levels, looking to implement emerging technologies, improve the user digital experience, leverage cloud solutions to store the massive amounts of data being generated, and test the waters on how to transact using digital assets. And we don’t see things slowing down.

According to recent guidance from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), providers of health apps and connected devices that collect consumers’ health information must comply with the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule, 16 CFR Part 318, and therefore are required to notify consumers and others when their health data is breached.

It has become increasingly clear that improving cybersecurity will be a main focus, and important goal, of the Biden-Harris administration.

With high-profile ransomware attacks occurring over the last few months, cybersecurity is back on the agenda in Washington, DC. We invite you to an upcoming webinar during which Morgan Lewis partners Ezra Church, Kristin Hadgis, and Daniel Skees will review recent actions taken by the Biden-Harris administration to address cybersecurity threats to critical infrastructure and to enhance the protection of sensitive data. They will also consider how the administration’s approach could affect future regulatory initiatives.

The United Kingdom’s Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) on March 10 announced in its 2021–2022 workplan that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will join as a full member from April 1, 2021.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on January 13 that it had completed its review of a proposed joint patent licensing pool known as the University Technology Licensing Program (UTLP) of 15 participating universities. The DOJ concluded that the UTLP was unlikely to harm competition and would benefit licensees and the public to the extent that the UTLP would make it easier to commercialize inventions that may be currently unlicensed or underutilized.