In Xerpla Ltd v. Information Commissioner [2018] UKFTT 2017_0262 (GRC) (14 August 2018), an English General Regulatory Tribunal has overturned a fine, issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) against the direct marketing company, Xerpla Ltd, after the ICO determined that Xerpla had failed to obtain the necessary consents for electronic communications to its subscribers. … Continue Reading
The government has published its response to the April 2018 targeted consultation on the Security of Network and Information Systems Directive (NISD). The targeted consultation specifically addressed how NISD will apply to Digital Service Providers (DSPs) in the UK, focusing on the identification of DSPs, security measures and further guidance. This follows the government’s public … Continue Reading
The German data protection authorities (German DPAs) have jointly released a list of processing activities (List) that are subject to a data protection impact assessment (DPIA). The List contains 16 examples. What is a DPIA? DPIAs shall help identifying, assessing and minimising the data protection risks of a project in which personal data are processed. … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be holding a series of hearings this fall on “Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century,” with the goal of reflecting on the agency’s powers, and state attorneys general (AGs) want to make sure their voices are heard. A bipartisan group of 29 state AGs filed comments with … Continue Reading
Since California enacted its Automatic Purchase Renewals Law (APRL) in 2010, the plaintiffs’ class action bar has been active in suing companies with subscription-based services for their alleged failures to comply with the APRL requirements. The lawsuits stem from the alleged failure to comply with the disclosure, consent, and acknowledgment requirements applicable to many types … Continue Reading
This month, the Privacy Shield Program posted answers to Frequently Asked Questions. The Privacy Shield provides a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce. The general guidance addresses topics such as the continued status of the Privacy Shield … Continue Reading
The Summer 2018 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released. We provide updates on Facebook fan pages, cookie consent, influencer marketing, liability of platform providers, framing and more. The newsletter also includes multiple recommended reads on the GDPR. We hope you enjoy reading it.… Continue Reading
The Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) in IC v Miller [2018] UKUT 229 (AAC) has rejected an appeal brought by the Information Commissioner (IC), which was in relation to a First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) decision finding that “small data” (i.e., data concerning five or fewer individuals or households) was not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom … Continue Reading
San Francisco voters will decide on November 6, 2018, whether to enact the city’s “Privacy First Policy” that intends to protect the personal information of residents and visitors from misuse by companies doing business in San Francisco. The policy builds upon the California Consumer Privacy Act passed in June 2018, which gives consumers various rights, … Continue Reading
California’s new privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (AB 375), will go into effect on January 1, 2020. The law expands privacy rights, provides California consumers with more control over the personal information that businesses collect on them, and includes civil penalties and statutory damages for noncompliance. While the new privacy law … Continue Reading
On 5 July 2018, the European Parliament demanded in a resolution that the European Commission suspends its EU-U.S. Privacy Shield unless the U.S. administration introduces adequate data protection safeguards by 1 September 2018. The Privacy Shield agreement is aimed at facilitating data transfers of EU personal data to the United States. The non-binding resolution was … Continue Reading
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is underway, and companies and organizations around the world are analyzing its effects on how they collect, use, store and disclose data. U.S.-based sponsors of sweepstakes, contests, instant win games and other promotions opening entry to or targeting Europeans need to be mindful of the GDPR rules … Continue Reading
On 25 May 2018 the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) formally replaced the Article 29 Working Party as the European advisory committee on data protection issues. In addition to taking over Article 29 Working Party’s responsibilities in issuing guidelines, recommendations and statements of best practice, the EDPB, which operates as an independent body of the … Continue Reading
Article 23 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows EU Member States to restrict the scope of data subjects’ GDPR rights and organisations’ GDPR obligations. The Irish data protection authority, the Data Protection Commission (DPC), released guidelines (Guidelines) on GDPR Article 23 on 19 June 2018. The Irish Data Protection Act 2018 (the Act) … Continue Reading
You may well remember our blog from last year which outlined the Commission’s proposal for a framework in relation to the free flow of non-personal data in September 2017 (you can view our blog here). On 19 June 2018, the European Parliament, Council and the European Commission reached a political agreement on the rules that … Continue Reading
On 7 June 2018, the UK government published a technical note detailing options for future UK-EU cooperation on data protection, post-Brexit. The technical note is part of a series of papers produced by the UK Brexit negotiation team for discussion with the EU, in order to assist with the development of future EU-UK relations. The … Continue Reading
On 5 June 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its long-awaited Facebook fan page judgement (Case C-210/16), holding that the operator of a fan page on Facebook is jointly responsible with Facebook for processing the data of visitors to the page. Only a day later, the Conference of German … Continue Reading
On 23 May 2018, the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) received royal assent and became UK law. The DPA implements the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while providing for certain permitted derogations, additions and UK-specific provisions. The DPA: Repeals and replaces the previous Data Protection Act 1998 (the 1998 Act) as the primary piece … Continue Reading
The General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/9679) (GDPR) came into effect on 25 May 2018. One of the key principles centres on integrity and confidentiality of personal data. Article 5(1)(f) of the GDPR provides that personal data shall be: “processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised … Continue Reading
On 26 April 2018, the Conference of German Data Protection Authorities (German DPAs) released a highly criticised position paper on the applicability of the German Telemedia Act (TMA) after 25 May 2018 (Position Paper, available in German here). The Position Paper clearly states that tracking and profiling cookies now require informed prior opt-in consent. Position … Continue Reading
On 25 April 2018, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs Committee published a corrigendum (an error to be corrected in a printed work after publication) to the European General Data Protection Regulation ((EU 2016/679) (GDPR). There are 26 “official” language versions of the GDPR (all European Economic Area countries plus Norway and … Continue Reading
On 23 April 2018, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive on the protection of whistleblowers reporting on breaches of EU law, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum. The Directive The intention behind the proposal is to harmonise the minimum level of protection available to whistleblowers across the EU. It reflects the Commission’s view … Continue Reading
As previously reported, the Supreme Court on November 29 heard arguments in Carpenter v. United States, an important privacy case about the Fourth Amendment’s application to 127 days’ worth of a criminal suspect’s cell-site location information. While the Court has yet to decide the case, its decisions last week in Byrd v. United States and … Continue Reading
On 10 May 2018, the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018 (NISR) came into force in the UK. NISR stems from the Network Information Systems Directive 2016 of the EU, which has been covered by this blog previously. Relatedly, on 25 April 2018, the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published … Continue Reading
