This week, it was officially announced that South Korea has become the fifth country to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system. This system was developed by APEC in 2011 to “build consumer, business and regulator trust in cross border flows of personal information” and thus facilitate e-commerce among APEC countries. The Ministry of Interior and the Korea Communications Commission stated on Monday that approval for joining the CBPR had been secured. In order for countries to opt in to the system, their legal systems and privacy protection must meet APEC’s standards.

APEC is an economic forum comprised of countries throughout Asia-Pacific. APEC’s importance should be noted: its 21 member economies comprise 54 per cent of the world’s GDP and 40 per cent of world trade. It exists to assist in trade through faster customs procedures and initiatives to synchronise regulatory systems across its member countries. The CBPR is a voluntary accountability-based system that facilitates the safe transfer of personal information across the APEC region.Continue Reading South Korea joins APEC’s Cross Border Privacy Rules system

This post was also written by Jasmine Horton.

On January 30, 2014, the California Senate approved SB 383, which amends the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act (Song-Beverly Act) to apply to online credit card transactions of electronic downloadable content (e.g., music, videos). Originally crafted to apply to all online credit card transactions, the bill has

This post was also written by Christopher G. Cwalina, Khurram Nasir Gore, Amy S. Mushahwar and Steven B. Roosa.

A warning from the California Attorney General’s office to mobile app developers: “Don’t get cute!” On February 22, California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that her office and the six leading mobile application platform providers –

This post was also written by Nick Tyler, Christopher G. Cwalina and Steven B. Roosa.

Following the widely reported allegation that a social network’s iPhone app had uploaded the names, addresses and phone numbers of users’ contacts onto their servers without permission, both Apple and U.S. legislators have moved swiftly to try to curb this