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 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
By Serrin Turner Typically, the process for amending the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is a sleepy affair. Proposed amendments wend their way through a series of judicial committees and, if approved by the Supreme Court, take effect automatically by the end of the year. Theoretically, Congress may choose to intervene and block the change – … Continue Reading
On July 17th, the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA) came into effect in the United Kingdom reinstating the Government’s powers to require communication providers to retain traffic data (also known as metadata) and enabling the Government to serve warrants to intercept communications data on companies outside of the United Kingdom to the extent … Continue Reading
By Larry Cohen and Gail Crawford While the popular press has been full of stories about the European Court of Justice’s (“ECJ”) ruling creating a “right to be forgotten” (ahead of the still pending Data Protection Regulation), we will focus on both the ruling as well as the specific questions referred to the ECJ that … Continue Reading
By Jennifer Archie On Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, following the now expected series of public workshops and roundtables and well-timed enforcement actions, the Federal Trade Commission Staff issued a new 36-page staff report, Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency. The Report summarizes past actions and guidance, and makes new recommendations for clearly and transparently … Continue Reading
By Gail Crawford and Amy Taylor Privacy professionals from more than 20 countries are gathered in Cambridge, England, to discuss privacy challenges in today’s world at the 25th annual Privacy Laws & Business conference. Professor Michael Birnhack, Professor of Law at Tel Aviv University and Visiting Associate Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, … Continue Reading
Focus on Mobile App Transparency Pursuant to the Obama Administration’s blueprint for consumer privacy released in February (and in accord with a request for comments published in March), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has issued a notice setting July 12, 2012, as the date for the first meeting in its privacy multistakeholder process. Mobile app … Continue Reading
Spokeo Consent Decree Serves as Important Caution to Buyers and Sellers of Social Media Reports on Consumers to Understand and Comply with FCRA By Jennifer Archie, Kevin Boyle and Kelsey McPherson As part of a settlement announced Monday, the FTC sends a reminder that the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) apply to … Continue Reading
European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has confirmed that we can expect to see a draft of the eagerly awaited new Data Privacy Directive in January. The new rules are likely to significantly strengthen the rights of individuals. According to a press release issued jointly last week by Reding and Germany’s Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Isle … Continue Reading
On 16 May 2011, the European Commission’s Article 29 Working Party released their latest Opinion on the status of geolocation data for the purposes of European privacy rules. Though not strictly binding on EEA Member States or businesses operating within Europe, the Working Party’s Opinions are highly influential and certainly set the scene for changes … Continue Reading
Google has consented to the entry of a proposed Agreement Containing Consent Order with the US Federal Trade Commission, subjecting the company to sweeping government oversight of its privacy disclosure and product development and release practices, nominally arising out of the roll-out of its Buzz product in February 2010. The auditing and reporting requirements are … Continue Reading
In a 32-page-long decision adopted on March 17, 2011, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) determined that Google Inc.’s collection of data in the course of its Street View application and Latitude service breached the French Data Protection Act No. 78-17. (The CNIL’s English summary of its action is here). Making use of its enforcement … Continue Reading
A court in the United Kingdom has cast doubt on whether IP addresses can be used to identify infringement of copyright by a specific individual. In this post, we ask whether this case impacts the generally accepted view in Europe that IP addresses should be treated as personal data under applicable data privacy laws. The … Continue Reading
The processing of personal data in the context of evolving technology and globalisation of commerce has prompted the Article 29 Working Party to take a hard look at the applicable law provisions under the European Data Protection Directive and its implementation by the Member States in its most recent Opinion. The Working Party believes that … Continue Reading
Following in the wake of the FTC’s report on online tracking, the Commerce Department has issued its “green paper” on privacy. The report is part of the Department’s ongoing review of privacy practices begun in April this year. While it avoids making many specific policy recommendations, the report does recommend the development of Fair Information … Continue Reading
In a long anticipated report entitled Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change, a divided U.S. Federal Trade Commission focused on raising consumer awareness and soliciting industry feedback on online tracking and behavioral advertising. Industry is portrayed as “too slow” to improve privacy practices in this arena. The report proposes a normative framework … Continue Reading
