EDPB Provides Clarity and Raises New Questions with Publication of Final Guidelines on the Territorial Scope of the GDPR
Following an extensive public consultation, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) has published a final version of its guidelines on the territorial scope of the GDPR (“Guidelines”). This comes almost one year since the draft guidelines were originally published. Please read this blog together with our previous blog on the draft guidelines, as this blog addresses only the key differences between the draft guidelines and the Guidelines. (more…)
EDPB Stakeholder Event Highlights Continued Confusion over Data Subject Rights Compliance under the GDPR
On 4 November 2019, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the EU-wide data supervisory authority, held a stakeholders’ event on data subject rights under the GDPR. At the event, various stakeholders including e.g., corporates and NGOs, raised a number of issues including, for example:
Website Cookie Consent: Is the Cookie Starting to Crumble?
Two important decisions have recently occurred relating to website operators’ use of cookies. First, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU” or the “Court”) has issued its judgment in Planet49, a case which looked at the standards of consent and transparency for the use of cookies and similar technologies in the context of the e-Privacy Directive and the GDPR and determined that opt-out consent, by way of a pre-ticked checkbox, was insufficient to obtain GDPR-standard consent for non-essential cookies. Second, the Spanish data protection authority, AEPD, fined Vueling, a Spanish airline, €30,000 for forcing visitors to its website to accept the use of non-essential cookies on their device in order to continue viewing the website.
We set out below our summaries and key takeaways from both decisions which help to highlight the latest approach of both the courts and European data protection regulators in relation to cookie consent.
UK and U.S. Privacy Shield Guidance on Brexit
In light of the UK’s possible departure from the European Union (EU), currently scheduled for October 31, 2019 (“Exit Day”), the UK Government has passed the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) (No.2) Regulations 2019 (“Regulations”) which enter into force immediately before Exit Day.
EDPB Adopts Opinion on Interplay Between the EU Clinical Trials Regulation and the GDPR
On 23 January 2019, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted an opinion on the interplay between the EU Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Opinion addresses the appropriate legal basis for the processing of personal data in the context of clinical trials (primary use), and the secondary use of clinical trial data. (more…)
Transfers of Personal Data from the EU to the U.S. in the Event of a Brexit ‘No-Deal’
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (“Privacy Shield”) enables the free-flow of personal data from the European Economic Area (“EEA”) to the U.S. Under the Privacy Shield, U.S. participant organisations commit to adhering to Privacy Shield principles, which include accountability for the onward transfer of personal data after receiving such data from EEA organisations, data integrity obligations and purpose limitations with respect to the personal data transferred. Privacy Shield participant organisations are also required to develop and maintain a Privacy Shield-compliant privacy policy which informs individuals of the organisation’s practices and procedures when handling personal data and explains the independent recourse mechanisms in place for individuals to address complaints with respect to the processing of their personal data. (more…)
French DPA Publishes Updated Data Protection Impact Assessment Guidance
Under Article 35(3) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), organisations are required to conduct a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) where they: (i) engage in a systematic and extensive evaluation of personal aspects of individuals, based on automated processing, and on which decisions are based that produce legal or other effects that concern the individual, or (ii) process special categories of personal data (e.g. health data) on a large scale or personal data relating to criminal convictions, or (iii) engage in a systematic monitoring of a publicly accessible area on a large scale. (more…)
EU DPAs Receive Thousands of Complaints Under the GDPR
European Digital Rights (EDRi), a digital user rights non-for-profit organisation, on 25 October 2018, launched an online platform, ‘GDPR Today’. In its first edition of the GDPR Today, the EDRi published statistics collected from eight EU Member States (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom). The statistics show that since the GDPR’s entry into force on 25 May 2018, data protection authorities (DPAs) have received thousands of complaints from EU individuals on the implementation of the GDPR by businesses and other organisations. Of note, the United Kingdom’s DPA, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has topped the list of complaints received, with nearly 15,000 complaints. Germany and France follow in the rankings, with 6,555 complaints and 3,767 complaints received, respectively. However, the UK figure includes complaints filed with the ICO prior to the GDPR’s effective date. (more…)
Japan Granted Adequacy Deal on Data Protection by the EU
On July 17, 2018, the European Commission released a press release announcing Japan and the European Union have concluded talks on reciprocal adequacy of their respective data protection systems, alongside a corresponding Q&A on reciprocal adequacy. After successful negotiations, both jurisdictions have reached a mutual adequacy arrangement, recognising the adequacy in each jurisdiction’s data protection framework and representing the first time that the EU and a third country have agreed on a reciprocal recognition of the level of “adequate” data protection. (more…)
European Lawmakers Call on the EU to Suspend the EU-U.S. ‘Data Transfer’ Privacy Shield
On 11 June 2018, members of a Committee within the European parliament (“MEPs”) narrowly voted in favour of suspending the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (“Privacy Shield”), an agreement that facilitates the transfer of personal data of EU data subjects to the U.S., unless the U.S. government fully complies with the Privacy Shield data protection requirements by 1 September 2018. Although the resolution is only a draft and has no legal effect, it reflects continued European concerns surrounding Privacy Shield. (more…)