The upcoming ninth amendment of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen, ARC), which has already been approved by the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and the German Federal Council (Bundesrat), is expected to enter into force shortly. The new law is tailored to adapt German competition law to the specific features of … Continue Reading
The EU Commission recently launched a Public consultation on Building the European data economy. The objective behind the consultation is to feed into the Commission’s future policy agenda on the European data economy in 2017. The data economy In its Communication entitled “Building a European Data Economy,” the Commission has re-identified (from its 2012 Communication) … Continue Reading
Responding to news reports that journalists were able to purchase advertising on Facebook targeted to ethnic groups, Facebook announced several new changes to the company’s advertising products. The move highlights heightened scrutiny of advertising practices surrounding the increasing use of big data in many aspects of marketing and advertising. Facebook’s response grew out of a … Continue Reading
The European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) issued an Opinion on “coherent enforcement of fundamental rights in the age of big data”. This is an update to the EDPS’ Preliminary Opinion in 2014 on “Privacy and competitiveness in the age of big data”. The Preliminary Opinion observed a tendency for EU rules of data protection, consumer … Continue Reading
In a sign of the continuing significance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Spokeo v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (May 24, 2016), another federal court has cited that ruling in dismissing claims for lack of Article III standing. In Gubula v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., No. 15-cv-1078 (E.D. Wis. June 17, 2016), … Continue Reading
The amount of data collected worldwide is rapidly proliferating, and one international organization wants to make sure it’s clear how to protect what is arguably the most sensitive category of that data: biometrics. The Biometrics Institute, which has branches in London and Sydney, released new revisions to its Biometrics Privacy Guidelines to its members on … Continue Reading
The FTC unveiled a lengthy report, Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? Understanding the Issues, warning companies about commercial uses of big data and the discriminatory impact it may have on low-income and underserved populations. “Big data” refers to the ubiquitous collection of massive amounts of consumer information by companies, which may be … Continue Reading
On November 25, a California federal court dismissed without prejudice a proposed class action against Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors LLC, claiming the carmakers failed to ensure the electronic security of their vehicles by equipping them with computer technology that is susceptible to being hacked by third parties. Cahen, et al. … Continue Reading
With the onslaught of smart watches, smart thermostats, and even smart refrigerators that allow you to Tweet hangry messages to your followers, it’s only natural that a “smart city” would follow. This week, San Francisco city officials agreed to run a one-year pilot project with Sigfox – an FCC certified French start-up that builds low-power … Continue Reading
A study published 22 September 2015 criticises the EU’s development of its Digital Single Market (‘DSM’) strategy for being overly commercially and economically driven, with little attention to the key legal and social challenges regarding privacy and personal data protection. The development of the DSM should not be at the expense of individuals’ privacy rights, say … Continue Reading
On 23 June, the UK government introduced a new online cyber security training course designed to assist the procurement profession to stay safe online. After a recent government survey found that half of the worst breaches were caused by human error, the government aims to increase awareness and help organisations reduce risk. The course, freely … Continue Reading
On April 13, the Washington State Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the state’s data breach notification law. The amendment, which was requested by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and which we discussed in this previous post, passed the state house of representatives in March and is now awaiting the governor’s signature. The law will … Continue Reading
In an interview on 9 April 2015, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager indicated that companies who control personal data could come under increased scrutiny from European antitrust authorities. She recognises that considerable sums of money can now be made by companies holding large data sets, commonly known as Big Data, by using the data to … Continue Reading
The federal government may be pushing a cybersecurity and data privacy agenda, but that doesn’t mean that the states are taking a back seat. The state attorneys general are maintaining their focus on issues relating to privacy and data security and expanding the scope of that focus to address the ever-evolving nature of those issues. … Continue Reading
In December 2014, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) released the“Big Data Guidelines for Data Protection” (Guidelines). Aimed at Information and Communications Service Providers (ICSPs), they are designed to prevent the misuse of “publicly available information” to create and exploit new information. The Guidelines expressly permit ICSPs to collect and use “publicly available information”, within certain … Continue Reading
This post was written by Frederick Lah. On Tuesday, January 27, the FTC issued a 71-page Staff Report on the privacy and security issues with the Internet of Things. As we’ve noted in our previous blog posts, the Internet of Things (“IoT”) refers to the growing ability of everyday devices to monitor and communicate information … Continue Reading
While hundreds of tech companies are racing to develop the newest in Internet-connected “smart” devices, Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez is sending a reminder to those companies of their responsibilities to consumers. At the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas, January 6-9, Chairwoman Ramirez highlighted some best practices to address the … Continue Reading
The Dutch data protection authority, College Bescherming Persoonsgegevens (CBP), released a cease and desist order requiring Google to pay €60,000 per day, up to a maximum of €15 million, for violating Dutch data protection law, Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens(Wbp). Google has until the end of February 2015 to change the way it handles personal data. The … Continue Reading
The EU Article 29 Working Party (WP29) has issued an Opinion on ‘Recent Developments on the Internet of Things’ (Opinion). The Opinion stresses the privacy and security challenges generated by the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), while acknowledging the benefits of IoT to individual lives, and the prospect of significant economic growth within … Continue Reading
On 28 July, the ICO released its report ‘Big data and data protection’ (the ‘Report’). The Report defines ‘Big Data’ and sets out the data protection and privacy issues raised by Big Data, as well as compliance with the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (‘DPA’) in the context of Big Data. The ICO defines Big … Continue Reading
On September 15, the Federal Trade Commission held a workshop entitled “Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?” FTC Commissioner Julie Brill took the opportunity to discuss an industry that she has consistently maintained requires more regulation and scrutiny: data brokers. Commissioner Brill stressed first that the FTC is very focused on entities regulated … Continue Reading
Businesses that think they know what privacy issues are on the minds of the state attorneys general (AGs) should be aware that AGs are being urged to take action, either on their own, or in concert with the FTC, on key cutting edge privacy issues. At a major meeting of state AGs this week at … Continue Reading
In July, the European Commission (‘Commission’) published a communication titled “Towards a thriving data-driven economy” (‘Communication’), setting out the conditions that it believes are needed to establish a single market for big data and cloud computing. The Communication recognizes that the current legal environment is overly complex, creating “entry barriers to SMEs and [stifling] innovation.” … Continue Reading
At the end of April, a magistrate judge of the Southern District of New York denied a motion filed by Microsoft for the quashing of a search warrant issued under the Stored Communications Act (the Act). Microsoft had argued that the warrant should be quashed because the data concerned was stored in Ireland, and the … Continue Reading
