Innovative, practical counsel for privacy and strategic goals

Meghan O'Connor provides strategic counsel in the areas of data privacy and cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, information governance, commercial contracting and transactions, with particular attention to companies managing health and other personal data. She advises on:

• Innovative arrangements to leverage data and achieve strategic goals while managing risk
• Compliance program development with operationally feasible practices in light of ever-evolving privacy and security laws
• Implementing emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), as well as developing commercialization strategies
• Transaction support, including diligence, risk management, and data and IT integration
• Privacy and security incident preparedness and response through all phases of recovery, including business continuity, breach notification and government investigation

Meghan believes good privacy and security can drive market growth, consumer trust and strategic opportunities for companies at all stages of development. She leverages over a decade of experience to help her clients navigate complex regulatory requirements.

Meghan is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She is chair of the Data Privacy & Security team and serves as Milwaukee office chair of the Health & Life Sciences Practice Group.

Bar Admissions

• Wisconsin

Education

• Lawrence University (B.A., magna cum laude, 2005)

• Marquette University Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2010)
  • Marquette Elder’s Advisor (NKA Marquette Benefits & Social Welfare Law Review), Editor-in-Chief

• Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, Certificate, Quarles & Brady Leadership Program (2018)

• "Anticipating Potential Updates To Ill. Biometric Privacy Law"
• "COVID-19 and Increased Cyber Risk"
• "COVID-19 and the risks of an expanded remote workforce"
• "Cybersecurity & Data Privacy (including GDPR)"
• "Data Breaches and Security Incidents: Effective Preparation and Incident Response"
• "Data Privacy and Security 2018 First Quarter Update"
• "Examining the Law on Health Information and COVID-19 for Businesses"
• "GDPR Enforcement Day is Here!"
• "Health Information Technology, Privacy and Security 2018 First Quarter Update"
• "HIPAA 101"
• "How COVID-19 increases cyber risk and tips to protect yourself"
• "How HIPAA restricts releasing data on COVID-19 deaths"
• "NASP presentation: Lunch with a Lawyer: Privacy Please! Recent developments in federal and state privacy laws that impact specialty pharmacy"
• "One Is the Loneliest Number: Alabama Becomes the Final State to Pass Data Breach Notification Law"
• "Privacy Breaches and Responding to a Privacy Breach (and Insurance Coverage) ‐ The Basic Steps: 5 Things You Have to Do"
• "South Dakota Officially the 49th State to Pass Data Breach Notification Law"
• 2023 Year-End Employee Benefits Updates
• 2024 U.S. Privacy Timeline
• All Tricks, No Treats: Record-breaking HIPAA Settlement Announced
• Bank On It: Finance News You Can Count On
• California Governor Signs the Genetic Information Privacy Act
• California Governor Vetoes Genetic Information Privacy Act
• California Passes Bill Establishing Genetic Information Privacy Act
• California Voters Approve California Privacy Rights Act: What You Need To Know
• CCPA Amendment Creating De-Identified Health Information Exception Will Change How We Create and Use De-Identified Data
• Ciox Case Changes the HIPAA Rules on Patient Rate Caps for Access to Health Records
• Ciox Case Changes the HIPAA Rules on Patient Rate Caps for Access to Health Records… Which Can Be Very Confusing in Wisconsin!
• CISA Issues Guidance on Heightened Health Care Cybersecurity Threats Amid COVID-19
• Confidentiality of Substance Abuse Records: Everything You Want Someone Else to Know so You Don't Have to Remember It.
• COVID-19 Exploitations: Malicious Cyber Actors Strike with Pandemic-Related Scams
• CPRA is in Effect: What Health and Life Sciences Entities Need to Know
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act
• Diving into the Washington My Health My Data Act  
• Do the New Health Cybersecurity Guidelines Set a New Standard for Reasonable and Appropriate Safeguards?
• FBI Issues Warning of Increased Ransomware Targeting Educational Institutions
• Fraud in the Time of Corona: Beware of Individual Impersonating OCR Investigator
• Friendly Reminder - Finalize and Post Your Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice Before March 31
• Health Information Technology, Privacy and Security 2018 First Quarter Update
• HHS Extends Information Blocking and Health IT Certification Compliance Dates
• HHS Finalizes AI Transparency Rule
• HHS Office for Civil Rights Announces Proposed Rule Increasing HIPAA Privacy Rule Protections for Reproductive Care
• HIPAA Flexibility for COVID-19 Testing Sites
• How Does HIPAA Prevent Using and Disclosing COVID-19 Vaccination Information? HHS OCR Issues Guidance
• Illinois Introduces Bills to Amend BIPA Taking Away Private Right of Action and Adding ECGs
• Information Blocking Rule Expands to Full Designated Record Set
• Introduction to AI and Current Hot Topics
• It’s the End of the PHE as We Know It
• Joint Commission Issues Sentinel Event Alert on Cybersecurity in Health Care
• Key Considerations for Healthcare Providers Responding to Law Enforcement Requests
• Managing Cyber Risk for Research and Higher Education Institutions During COVID-19 Pandemic
• March Proves an Exciting Month for Data Privacy
• Meghan O’Connor and Ashleigh Giovannini Outline Evolving U.S. Geofence Technology Legal Landscape in Article for OneTrust DataGuidance
• Meghan O’Connor and Kiana Baharloo Write Article About Washington’s My Health My Data Act Published in Lexis Practical Guidance
• Meghan O’Connor and Kiana Baharloo Write Article for Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report About My Health My Data Act
• Million Dollar Maybe: Enforcement of Cures Act Information Blocking Prohibitions Begins
• Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Complaint Against Facebook for Collection of Browsing Data
• Ninth Circuit Rejects Article III Standing Argument for BIPA Claims
• OCR is Making a List, Checking it Twice, Gonna Find Out Who Has Not Been Complying with HIPAA
• OCR Provides HIPAA Research Clarifications: Remote Access and Authorization for Future Use of Protected Health Information
• One Is the Loneliest Number: Alabama Becomes the Final State to Pass Data Breach Notification Law
• Part 2 Modernization Underway: Revised Rule Released While We Await CARES Act Rulemaking
• Planning for Preparedness and Response: COVID-19 Response for the Health and Life Sciences Industry
• Privacy and Cybersecurity Considerations and Opportunities Related to COVID-19
• Privacy and Security Considerations for Telehealth Use During COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
• Privacy Priorities for 2024 (and Beyond)
• Privacy Update: A Busy Second Quarter
• Recent Updates in Data Privacy & Security for Health Care Entities
• Recent Updates: Data Privacy & Security for Health Care Entities Summer 2022
• SEC Rules Impose New Four-Day Reporting Requirements for Cybersecurity Incidents
• South Dakota Officially the 49th State to Pass Data Breach Notification Law
• Substance Abuse Disorder Records (42 CFR Part 2) Final Rule Is Here!
• Substance Abuse Disorder Records (42 CFR Part 2) Proposed Rulemaking Works Toward HIPAA Alignment
• Summer Consumer Health Data Privacy Legislation Happened So Fast
• The Patient Who Cried “Data Breach”: Actual Data Breach Required, but End-of-Life Software Risk Remains
• Warning of Increasing and Imminent Threat of Ransomware to Health Care Industry
• Washington Poised to Transform Consumer Health Data Landscape with Passage of My Health My Data Act
• Winter Blues Client Alert Series: Privacy Concerns in the Collection and Use of Biometric Data
• Wisconsin Legislature Amends Emergency Detention Statute
• With CCPA in Effect, What Do Health and Life Sciences Entities Need to Know? And How Does the New Amendment Affect You?
• With CCPA in Effect, What Does the Financial Industry Need to Know to Comply?
• With CCPA in Effect, What Does Your Business Need to Know to Comply?
• Work From Home Presents Privacy and Security Considerations for Research and Higher Education Institutions
• “Circling Back” After the New Year: Recent Updates in Data Privacy & Security
• ““So, don’t ask me no questions and I won’t tell you no lies:” Physician Receives Criminal Conviction for HIPAA Violations and Obstructing a Criminal Health Care Investigation"

Seminar

• 2020 Virtual Legal Ethics Seminar
• 2021 Pharmacy Law Symposium
• 2022 Fall Virtual HIPAA COW Conference
• 2022 HIPAA Cow Spring Conference
• 2024 Pharmacy Law Symposium
• American Society for Pharmacy Law (ASPL) 2020 Virtual Fall Meeting
• Artificial Intelligence: Data Licensing, Usage & Privacy Considerations
• Artificial Intelligence: IP Strategies for Technology Transfer
• Business Law Training | Building Privacy Compliance for the Future Now
• Business Law Training: Privacy and Cybersecurity in 2023: New Obligations for Employers and Vendor Management Implications
• Data Breaches and Cybersecurity Incidents: Effective Preparation and Incident Response
• Data Licensing and Informed Consent: How to Future-Proof Data Acquisition for Commercialization Opportunities
• Data Licensing: An Untapped Resource or Something to Avoid?
• Data Privacy/Breach and FERPA Issues
• Data Security and Incident Response for Employers
• For Your Eyes Only: Managing Data in the Pharmaceutical and Clinical Trial Industries
• Health Law Update
• HIPAA Collaborative of Wisconsin 2018 Spring Conference
• Information Blocking Panel Discussion: Privacy Perspective
• Managing Your Cybersecurity Incident Response: Tales from the Trenches
• Managing Your Cybersecurity Incident Response: Tales from the Trenches
• Navigating AI: A Conversation About Digital Innovation
• Navigating Data Out-Licensing
• NCPDP Annual Conference
• Privacy (and Security) Please! Hot Topics in Pharmacy
• Privacy and Cybersecurity in 2023: New Obligations for Employers and Vendor Management Implications
• Privacy and Cybersecurity Update
• Privacy Developments on the Horizon for 2024
• Privacy in AI: Hot Issues and Priorities
• Summer Webinar Series
• Telemedicine Webinar Series Part IV: What Comes Next for Telemedicine? Trends and Lessons Learned
• Under Pressure: A Musical Journey to Understanding the Legal Framework Necessary to Leverage Big Data – 2022 ACC Annual Meeting
• Video Replay | 2020 Annual Legal Ethics Seminar
• Video Replay | 2020 Annual Legal Ethics Seminar