UK publishes White Paper with hard-hitting regulatory proposals to tackle online harms. By Alain Traill, Stuart Davis, Andrew Moyle, Deborah Kirk and Gail Crawford On 8 April 2019, the Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published an “Online Harms White Paper”, proposing a new compliance and enforcement regime intended to … Continue Reading
The closure of four cases involving targeted advertising provides lessons for navigating compliance standards under the GDPR. By Myria Saarinen and Elise Auvray Four French advertising technology companies that received a warning in 2018 from the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) have all implemented the regulator’s required changes. The recent closure of the cases highlights … Continue Reading
Companies should identify data flows, implement a data transfer solution, and update internal documents and privacy notices. By Fiona M. Maclean and Jane Bentham Since our blog on “What a “No Deal” Brexit Means for UK Data Privacy”, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published two information notes on data transfers in the event … Continue Reading
The FTC and many state attorneys general aggressively monitor apps, websites, and internet-connected products for COPPA compliance. By Jennifer C. Archie, Michael H. Rubin, and Alexander L. Stout In the United States, collecting data directly from children under 13 years of age is tightly regulated by a federal statute, which is aggressively monitored and enforced. … Continue Reading
The DIFC guidelines provide practical guidance for DIFC-registered entities engaging in electronic direct marketing, including useful “dos” and “don’ts”. By Brian A. Meenagh, Fiona M. Maclean, and Laura Holden What Do DIFC-Registered Entities Need to Know? In January 2019, the Commissioner for Data Protection for the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) issued new Direct Marketing … Continue Reading
EU data protection authorities are imposing increased penalties under the GDPR, with more proceedings forecast for 2019. By Tim Wybitul, Prof. Dr. Thomas Grützner, Dr. Wolf-Tassilo Böhm, and Dr. Isabelle Brams The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in effect since May 2018. Although the French data protection authority (CNIL) has imposed the highest … Continue Reading
The CNIL decision handed down on 21 January 2019, which cites violations of several GDPR obligations, provides important insights for groups wishing to benefit from the “one-stop-shop mechanism”. By Gail E. Crawford, Myria Saarinen, Camille Dorval, and Laura Holden The Complaints Not more than a week after the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) came … Continue Reading
Understanding the practical implications of a “No Deal” Brexit (as compared to an exit under an approved Withdrawal Agreement) following last week’s vote against the current withdrawal proposal. By Gail E. Crawford and Jane Bentham “No Deal” Brexit Unless the UK can agree on a deal with the EU that meets the approval of the … Continue Reading
Germany’s first GDPR fine offers lesson for companies planning a data breach policy. By Tim Wybitul, Wolf-Tassilo Böhm, and Isabelle Brams In November 2018, Germany’s first fine under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was imposed — and it was much lower than many expected. The favourable outcome of the proceedings for the defending company … Continue Reading
GDPR and PSD2 are two legal initialisms that have both generated a great deal of press coverage in recent months, but they are seldom considered together. By Christian F. McDermott, Calum Docherty and Brett Carr There were around 122 billion non-cash payments in the European Union (EU) in 2016, with card payments accounting for 49% … Continue Reading
FCA Chair hints that new regulation addressing data ethics in the FinTech space may be on the horizon. By Nicola Higgs, Fiona Maclean and Terese Saplys Will societies of the future be ruled by algocracy, in which algorithms decide how humans are governed? Charles Randell, Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems … Continue Reading
Businesses active in California should promptly assess whether the law applies to their practices and start planning towards compliance with the new law. By Jennifer Archie, Michael Rubin, and Scott Jones Key Points: A sweeping new privacy law — the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 — was signed into law on June 28, 2018. … Continue Reading
California ballot initiative, Consumer Right to Privacy Act of 2018, gathers momentum for a November vote, spurring some telecom and internet businesses to organize opposition. By Michael H. Rubin, Roxana Mondragón-Motta, and Scott C. Jones Businesses are preparing to oppose a California ballot measure that could impose new data privacy and security obligations, with the … Continue Reading
By Gail Crawford and Mark Sun The Article 29 Working Party (WP29), an independent European advisory body on data protection and privacy released the results of their first review of the EU-US Privacy Shield on Wednesday (6 December 2017). The WP29 has identified several “significant concerns” with the EU-US Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield) programme, as currently … Continue Reading
By Gail Crawford and Calum Docherty On October 3, 2017, the Irish High Court announced that it will make a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling on the validity of the Standard Contractual Clauses, which allow companies in the European Economic Area (EEA) to transfer personal data … Continue Reading
By Gail Crawford, Ksenia Koroleva, and Andrea Stout The State Duma, Russia’s lower chamber of Parliament, has adopted amendments to the Federal Law on Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection of the Russian Federation (the Law) in its first reading. Under the proposed amendments, messaging apps would be required, among other things, to verify users … Continue Reading
By Gail Crawford, Ulrich Wuermeling, Calum Docherty The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR or Regulation) will become applicable in one year, as of May 25, 2018. A lot has happened since we set out the key provisions of the Regulation last year. As companies implement compliance programmes in efforts to protect data subjects and avoid … Continue Reading
By Ulrich Wuermeling Well ahead of the implementation deadline for the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the German Parliament (Bundestag) passed a new Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz) on April 27, 2017. The Federal Council (Bundesrat) could confirm the Act before the summer, but may require further amendments. If the Parliament and the Council fail to … Continue Reading
By Hui Xu, Gail E. Crawford, Wei-Chun (Lex) Kuo, Andrea E. Stout and Sean Wu The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued Draft Measures for public comment on April 11 on Security Assessment for Cross-border Transmission of Personal Information and Critical Data (the Draft Measures). The Draft Measures provide further clarification surrounding the “localization” requirement … Continue Reading
By Serrin Turner and Megan Behrman Another front recently emerged in the legal battle over whether US law enforcement authorities can use a search warrant issued under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) to obtain data stored overseas. Until now, the battle has been focused in New York, where Microsoft filed a challenge in December 2013 … Continue Reading
By Jennifer Archie and Alex Stout Tax-related identity theft is nothing new, but tax season 2016 took tax schemes to a new level. Last year, our cyber experts advised a large cluster of clients (public and private companies) over a period of only two weeks, following a nationwide explosion of deviously simple attacks—mostly targeted at … Continue Reading
By Ulrich Wuermeling On January 10, 2017, the European Commission proposed a new ePrivacy Regulation (Proposal). Compared to the internal draft that was leaked in December, the official Proposal has been substantially modified. However, the general approach taken by the European Commission has not changed. The Proposal includes provisions with a broad scope of application covering … Continue Reading
By Fiona Maclean & Calum Docherty The Article 29 Working Party (WP29) – the group that represents the data protection authorities of all EU Member States – has published guidance and FAQs on a number of issues under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Data Protection Officers (DPOs) (Guidance & FAQs) DPOs are the cornerstone … Continue Reading
By Ulrich Wuermeling An internal Commission draft of a new ePrivacy Regulation (Draft) has been leaked to the public. The Commission plans to propose it in early 2017, but the content of the Draft does not seem near a final proposal. It is either older or still needs some time to be finalized. The Draft … Continue Reading
