DROPLETS

Citing threats from foreign adversaries, a new executive order declares a national emergency to protect the U.S. bulk-power system. The order prohibits or restricts transactions involving grid equipment designed, developed, or supplied by entities linked to foreign adversaries that pose a national security risk. This action grants the Department of Energy (DOE) significant authority to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities within the nation's energy infrastructure. For clients in the energy, manufacturing, and technology sectors, the order creates immediate uncertainty for projects relying on international supply chains and could halt pending acquisitions of foreign-made components. Government contractors must also prepare for significant shifts in federal procurement, as the order mandates revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to prioritize U.S.-manufactured equipment. Key next steps include the DOE's publication of implementing rules within 120 days and the FAR Council's subsequent consideration of proposed amendments.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has released a proposed enforcement policy statement signaling its intent to aggressively pursue companies that engage in undisclosed personalized pricing. This practice, which the agency also refers to as “surveillance pricing,” involves using a consumer’s personal data—such as browsing history, location, and demographics—to set a unique price for that individual. Sophisticated clients across e-commerce and other consumer-facing sectors should take note, as the FTC is framing the failure to provide clear and conspicuous disclosure as a potentially unfair or deceptive act under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The agency's proposal does not seek to ban personalized pricing outright, acknowledging it lacks that authority from Congress. Instead, the focus is squarely on transparency. The FTC suggests that representing a price as static when it is in fact individualized could mislead consumers. Businesses using these pricing models should review their user interfaces and terms of service to ensure their disclosure practices are robust. The proposal is now open

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The U.S. Department of Justice has signaled a significant evolution in its approach to corporate crime with a new memorandum from its National Fraud Enforcement Division. The memo details a strategic shift towards a more aggressive, data-driven enforcement model. This change suggests the DOJ will increasingly leverage data analytics to proactively identify, investigate, and build fraud cases, rather than relying solely on traditional methods like whistleblowers or self-reporting. For corporate counsel and their clients, this development is critical. It heightens the importance of robust internal compliance programs and sophisticated data governance policies. Companies may face investigators who are better equipped to analyze vast datasets for patterns of misconduct, potentially uncovering issues that might otherwise have gone undetected. Counsel should advise clients to anticipate more technologically advanced government inquiries and to review their own data management and compliance frameworks to mitigate risks in this new enforcement environment.

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a National Fraud Detection Center, signaling a significant shift toward more proactive, data-driven enforcement. The center is designed to combine and analyze data from across federal and state agencies to identify fraudulent activity that may not be apparent when viewed through the lens of a single program. By scrutinizing billing anomalies, ownership structures, financial flows, and utilization trends across different government programs, the DOJ aims to generate more robust investigative leads.

This development increases compliance risks for any organization receiving federal funds, with healthcare providers being a primary target. Corporate counsel should anticipate heightened data-driven scrutiny from investigators. Companies are advised to evaluate their own compliance functions to ensure they can identify and investigate unusual cross-functional data patterns before they attract government attention. The initiative underscores the growing importance of sophisticated internal data monitoring as a key component of risk management.