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Amendments to the PDPA significantly change Singapore’s data protection landscape, including mandatory data breach notification and criminal offences for mishandling of personal data.

By Farhana Sharmeen, Esther Franks, and Gen Huong Tan

On 1 February 2021, certain sections of the Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2020 (the Act) took effect, implementing the following changes to the Personal Data Protection Act in 2012 (PDPA):

   •  Strengthened enforcement powers for the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC)

   •  New criminal offences for individuals for egregious mishandling of personal data

   •  Mandatory data breach notification requirements

   •  New provisions for “deemed” (i.e., implied) consent and exceptions to the PDPA consent requirements, namely the “legitimate interests” exception and “business improvement” exception

Other changes from the Act have yet to take effect but are expected to be introduced in phases. These include:

  • Increased financial penalties for companies in breach of the PDPA
  • A new right of data portability for individuals

Slaughter discusses the FTC’s priorities under the new administration, including ed-tech, health apps, and racial equity.

By Jennifer Archie, Michael Rubin, Marissa Boynton, and Jimmy Smith

On February 10, 2021, in her first major speech as acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission (the Commission, or the FTC), Rebecca Slaughter discussed the Commission’s enforcement priorities under the new administration — with a particular focus on deterring problematic data practices.

In her opening remarks at the Future of Privacy Forum, Slaughter stated that she would urge innovation and creativity and the use of all tools available to the Commission in order to bring about the best outcomes for consumers and to deter problematic privacy and data security practices.[i] She also noted that enhanced enforcement around ed-tech, health apps, and racial equity would be priorities for the new administration. In particular, Slaughter mentioned two types of relief that she believes the Commission should focus on going forward: disgorgement and effective consumer notice.