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…)
Hong Kong Issues EU Data Privacy Law Guidance on the upcoming GDPR
The Hong Kong Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (the “Hong Kong Data Privacy Commissioner”) has recently published compliance guidance on the upcoming GDPR to raise awareness in Hong Kong companies about the potential effects and reforms needed in order to comply with the new GDPR requirements. (more…)
Privacy and Cybersecurity Top 10 for 2018
This past year was marked by ever more significant data breaches, growing cybersecurity regulatory requirements at the state and federal levels and continued challenges in harmonizing international privacy and cybersecurity regulations. We expect each of these trends to continue in 2018.
As we begin this New Year, here is list of the top 10 privacy and cybersecurity issues for 2018: (more…)
Article 29 Working Party Releases GDPR Guidance on Consent and Transparency
On 28 November 2017, the Article 29 Working Party (the “WP29”) published detailed draft guidelines on consent under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), which is to come into effect on 25 May 2018. The draft guidance has been submitted for public consultation for a six week period before being adopted.
The WP29 guidance on consent (“Consent Guidelines”) provides an analysis of the notion of consent under the GDPR as well as practical guidance for organisations on the requirements to obtain and demonstrate valid consent under the GDPR. (more…)
European Commission Publishes its First Annual Review of EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield has survived its infancy, although the October 18, 2017 European Commission report on its first annual review of the functioning of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Report”) leaves uncertainty as to the long-term future of EU-U.S. Privacy Shield if the U.S. is unwilling or unable to adopt further Commission “recommendations”. The Report details the Commission’s findings on the implementation and enforcement of the Privacy Shield during its first year of operation. (more…)
Article 29 Working Party Publishes Draft Guidelines on Notification of Personal Data Breaches Notification Under the GDPR
On October 3, 2017, the Article 29 Working Party (“WP29”) adopted draft guidelines regarding notification of personal data breaches under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) which will require breach notification within 72 hours of awareness of a breach. (“Draft Guidelines”) (The Draft Guidelines appear to have been released for public comment during the week of 16th October). The deadline for comment is November 24, 2017. The Draft Guidelines are available here. The WP29 is a collective of EU data privacy supervisory authorities (“DPAs”). (more…)
Article 29 Working Party Publishes Final Guidance on Data Protection Impact Assessments
On 4 October 2017 the Article 29 Working Party (“WP29”) published its final Guidelines on Data Protection Impact Assessment (“DPIA”) which were initially released in draft form in April 2017. Article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) requires the use of DPIAs, or risk assessments of the proposed processing of personal data by an organisation, as part of regular business processes. The key revisions to note are in relation to the following concepts: (more…)
Schrems Judgment in the Irish Commercial Court Raises Concerns over the “Model Contracts” for Transfer of Personal Data Out of Europe
An Irish High Court ruling may have a significant impact on one of the main mechanisms that global companies use to transfer personal data out of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). The Irish High Court ruled on 3 October 2017 that the Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”) used by companies to transfer data from the EEA to US, also frequently referred to as “Model Contracts,” must be the subject of review by the Court of Justice of the European Union. (more…)
ECHR Ruled on Monitoring of Employee’s Electronic Communication
On 5 September 2017, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the “ECHR”) overturned the previous decision of the ECHR (sitting as a Chamber) and ruled that the Romanian courts had failed to strike a fair balance between the interest of an employer to monitor its employees’ electronic communications to ensure the smooth operation of the company and the employee’s right to respect for his private life and correspondence under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, in a question and answer section on its website the EHCR made it clear that the ruling does not mean that employers cannot monitor employee’s communications at work. Employers may still monitor their employee’s communications as long as such a measure is accompanied by “adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse.” (more…)
UK Government Publishes Draft Data Protection Bill
On 13 September 2017, the UK Government introduced the new Data Protection Bill (the “Bill”) in the House of Lords. If enacted, the Bill will repeal and replace the existing Data Protection Act 1998 and supplement the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). (more…)