Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam, signed the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) into law on March 2, 2021. The CDPA is set to take effect on January 1, 2023, and is the second most comprehensive consumer privacy law to be enacted in the United States behind the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), recently amended by … Continue Reading
On January 18 2021, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) published its Cloud Security for Healthcare Services report, which provides cybersecurity guidelines to healthcare organisations and discusses relevant data protection considerations and cybersecurity risks when using cloud services. The report builds on the previous procurement guidelines for cybersecurity in hospitals and comes at a … Continue Reading
In a recent Q&A with Tennessee Attorney General (AG) Herbert Slatery, the eight-year term AG discusses how he makes consumer protection, including privacy and cybersecurity issues, a top priority for Tennessee citizens and businesses. AG Slatery shares his thoughts on privacy on a multi-state state level, the prospect of standards of enforcement for technology companies, … Continue Reading
The European Commission published a draft decision on UK adequacy for transfers of personal data from the EU to the UK, which you can read here. This EC conducted an assessment of the UK’s GDPR framework under the UK Data Protection Act 2018, including data protection rules applicable to UK law enforcement and national security … Continue Reading
Washington State legislators continue in their effort to pass only the second comprehensive privacy legislation in the U.S., the Washington Privacy Act (WPA). Introduced on January 11, 2021, the WPA is currently making its way through committee hearings. The debate continues, with the Washington State Senate Ways & Means Committee recently holding a public hearing … Continue Reading
Many online platforms are using verification tools to address the broader concern of trustworthiness and credibility on the Internet. With a general move toward a “verified internet,” these online platforms are looking at new verification measures, including facial recognition and other biometric technology. The online adult video platform Pornhub announced last week that it will … Continue Reading
On 19 January 2021, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), published a letter dated 11 September 2020, available here, explaining that personal data transfers from UK based companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the purposes of regulatory compliance may be permitted under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Background Firms regulated by the … Continue Reading
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) announced their joint opinions on the draft standard contractual clauses (SCCs) previously published by the European Commission in November 2020. The opinions cover the SCCs between controllers and processors and the SCCs for the transfer of personal data to third countries. We … Continue Reading
In a Law360 article published last week, the top six media and advertising trends expected in 2021 are discussed. It is no surprise that data privacy and protection issues will likely continue to be a major focus for those operating in the media and advertising sectors. Two major themes identified include the potential for increased … Continue Reading
On January 6th, the first day of the New York legislature’s 2021 session, NY lawmakers proposed Assembly Bill 27 (AB 27), the Biometric Privacy Act. The legislative purpose of AB 27 is to provide safeguards for consumers regarding their biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, handprints, retina or iris scans, voiceprints, and other facial and hand … Continue Reading
The UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), published a new data sharing code of practice (Code), available here, which addresses the requirements for data sharing under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). Once approved by Parliament, the Code will become a statutory code of practice. … Continue Reading
After a long period of negotiation, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) have reached a deal on the sharing of personal data, only a few days before the end of the Brexit transition period. The agreed trade deal allows for the continued free flow of personal data from the EU to the … Continue Reading
With the end of the Brexit transition period quickly approaching on 31 December 2020, the future of international data transfers between the UK and the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) remains somewhat unclear. As background, Article 44 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) prohibits the transfer of personal data from the … Continue Reading
On 12 November 2020, the European Commission released draft updated standard contractual clauses (SCCs) for consultation (available here). The current SCCs were adopted by the Commission before the GDPR came into force. The CJEU’s decision in the Schrems II case has given greater urgency to updating the current SCCs. Once approved, the new SCCs will … Continue Reading
In a recent Q&A with Colorado Attorney General (AG) Phil Weiser, the first term AG discusses how he makes data privacy and cybersecurity accessible and interesting to his Colorado constituents. AG Weiser also explains the role of Colorado’s interdisciplinary Data Privacy and Security Impact Team and how its implementation has benefitted the state. Lastly, AG … Continue Reading
On 12 November 2020, the European Commission released its first draft set of clauses covering the Article 28 GDPR requirements, for consultation (available here). Article 28 of the GDPR governs the relationship between controllers and processors. In particular, Articles 28(3) and (4) outline the details that must be included in a data processing agreement between … Continue Reading
The Fall 2020 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released: English version German version In this edition we cover the following topics: 1. Data transfers following Schrems II 2. German Supreme Court: Relationship between the GDPR and the German Act on the Protection of Copyrights … Continue Reading
On 11 November 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) released recommendations on supplementary measures for international transfers (here) and recommendations on the European Essential Guarantees for surveillance measures (here), following the Schrems II decision (see our previous blog here). As a result of the Schrems II decision, data exporters who use certain transfer mechanisms as an appropriate … Continue Reading
Before the dust has even settled on many California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) compliance projects, California voters have welcomed the future of privacy by overwhelmingly approving Proposition 24: The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). Building off of the CCPA framework, the CPRA expands the rights of California consumers, adds new responsibilities for both business and … Continue Reading
The protection afforded by attorney-client privilege brings about a candid conversation between lawyers and clients. Privilege can attach to communications covering a variety of topics, from responding to a data subject access request (DSAR) to handling a security incident or managing complex and time consuming investigations on a multinational scale. Different privilege rules may apply … Continue Reading
On 21 October 2020, almost a year after the UK’s Information Commissioner Office (ICO) provided draft guidance on the right of access, the ICO published its updated guidance on data subject access requests (DSARs), available here (Guidance). In a previous post available here, we covered what DSARs are and the principles areas of focus of … Continue Reading
On 20 October 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) met for its 40th plenary session. During the session, the EDPB adopted final guidelines on Data Protection by Design and by Default (DPbDD) (available here) (the guidelines). See our blog post on the draft DPbDD guidelines, available here. As a quick reminder, the obligation to … Continue Reading
In a recent Q&A with Nevada Attorney General (AG) Aaron Ford, the first term AG discusses Nevada’s new data privacy law (Senate Bill 220), which provides consumers with a right to opt out of the sale of their data. AG Ford also outlines his perspective on federal privacy law and his office’s data breach enforcement … Continue Reading
Following a previous European Commission recommendation to support the gradual lifting of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions through mobile data and apps, on 19 October 2020, the European Commission has set up an EU-wide system for the interoperability of track and trace apps. Background National contact tracing and warning apps can play a key role in all … Continue Reading
