The Finnish presidency of the Council of the EU (Finnish Presidency) released an updated draft of the Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Regulation) on October 30, 2019 (available here). The Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society (WP TELE) will discuss the new draft at its meeting on November 7, 2019. Amendments put … Continue Reading
In its response dated 3 July 2019 (Response; file no. 19/11351, available in German here) to an inquiry by members of the German parliament (Inquiry), the German government took stand on the current draft Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Regulation), and particularly on “tracking”. The German government summarises its assessment of the ePrivacy … Continue Reading
The Bavarian Data Protection Authority (‘Bavarian DPA’) audited major Bavarian websites for their use of tracking tools on Safer Internet Day. It calls its findings “desolate”. None of the tracking tools were implemented in a compliant manner. Audit by the Bavarian DPA Tracking and the requirements for using cookies have been a highly debated topic … 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 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 10 January, the EU Commission proposed a new Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (“proposed Regulation”) to replace Directive 2002/58 (known as the “ePrivacy Directive”). The proposed Regulation The proposed Regulation aims to align the rules that apply to electronic communications services with the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).… Continue Reading
In 2007, Google bought online ad network DoubleClick, which uses cookies to collect and store data about Google users from their browsing history, to best place clients’ ads. This past June, Google revised its privacy policy to state that users’ activities on other sites tracked by DoubleClick “may be associated with [their] personal information.” This … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission is currently the most aggressive enforcement agency on privacy and data security. The agency kicked off 2016 with PrivacyCon on January 14, which put the spotlight on academic research on consumer privacy and security. The conference, which drew 400 attendees to Southwest D.C. and 1,500 more streaming online, showcased 19 papers … Continue Reading
Exploiting loopholes in Internet users’ cookie-blocking settings while claiming to protect them from cookies is a serious and deceitful invasion of privacy, the Third Circuit held November 10. Ruling on an appeal from consumer plaintiffs, whose multi-district litigation against Google and several other companies that run Internet advertising businesses was dismissed in Delaware District Court, … Continue Reading
Though the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Presidential Initiative “Privacy in a Digital Age” expired in June 2013 when a new NAAG president took over, the state attorneys general have maintained their sharp focus on all things privacy, with no signs that that focus will shift anytime soon. Most recent case in point: a … Continue Reading
This post was also written by John Hines, and Frederick Lah. Just how much privacy are we entitled to in public places, such as public highways and buses, classrooms, restaurants, or even on the Internet? While we expect to lose some sense of privacy when we move into public spaces, does this mean that we should … Continue Reading
This post was written by Frederick Lah. Wal-Mart’s decision to put radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on individual clothing has bothered some privacy advocates. Previously only used by the company in its warehouses, Wal-Mart is expanding its use of the tags with the aim of reducing loss and ensuring shelves are optimally stocked. Further down the … Continue Reading
