EU Data Governance Act – Edging Closer to a European Single Market for Data

On 6 April 2022, the European Parliament formally approved the Data Governance Act (“DGA”), which establishes a legal framework to promote the availability of data and increase trust in data sharing across sectors in the EU. Some of the key objectives of the new legislation include enabling the re-use of certain categories of protected public sector data and making it easier and safer for citizens and businesses to share their data with relevant stakeholders. (more…)

Privacy by Design and Data Minimisation

*This article was first published by Global Data Review in March 2022.

“Privacy by design” refers to the practice of integrating and embedding privacy and data protection into the development and implementation of information technology systems, business practices and policies, and products and applications. (more…)

Understanding China’s Data Regulatory Regime: What Are Important Data? And Can They Be Transferred Outside Of China?

The concept of “important data” is a cornerstone of China’s data regulatory regime. The Cyber Security Law (2017) (the CSL) prohibits operators of critical information infrastructures (CIIs) from transferring their “important data” and personal information outside of China. The Data Security Law (2021) (the DSL) and some recent draft regulations indicate that the prohibition on exports of “important data” is likely to apply to all companies, whether CII operators or not.

Then, what are “important data”? (more…)

Third Time’s a Charm? Privacy Shield Agreement Reached In Principle

The U.S. President and European Commission President announced in a joint press statement on March 25th, 2022 that an agreement “in principle” has been reached on a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework (Privacy Shield Agreement 2.0). Once approved and implemented, the agreement would facilitate the transatlantic flow of personal data and provide an alternative data transfer mechanism (in addition to EU Standard Contractual Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules) for companies transferring personal data from the EU to the U.S. This is a welcome announcement for companies that have been dealing with the legal uncertainty of such data flows following the Schrems II decision in July 2020, which invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield 1.0 for international transfers of personal data.

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Data Protection in Financial Services Week 2022

WEBINAR

From February 28-March 3, Sidley and OneTrust DataGuidance hosted their annual Data Protection in Financial Services (DPFS) Week, a series of webinars looking at the impacts of data privacy across the financial sector. Industry speakers covered a range of issues including:

  • How the latest privacy and cybersecurity developments in Europe and the U.S. have impacted financial services
  • How new and existing privacy and cyber requirements intersect with finance-specific regulation
  • What financial organizations can do to keep ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving data privacy and cyber landscape
  • How to deal with and manage the key issues for 2022, such as AI, data governance, and international transfers

(more…)

Trying to Tackle Big Data: European Union Launches Draft Data Act

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission (Commission) proposed a draft of a regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data – also known as the Data Act. The Data Act is intended to “ensure fairness in the digital environment, stimulate a competitive data market, open opportunities for data-driven innovation and make data more accessible for all”.

If adopted in its current form, the new rules will impose far-reaching obligations on tech companies (such as manufacturers of connected products and cloud service providers) and give national authorities new enforcement powers to sanction infringements with fines of up to EUR 20 million or 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is higher. (more…)

U.S. and Foreign Cybersecurity and Intelligence Agencies Recommend Measures to Counteract Threat of Russian Cyberattacks

On January 11, 2022, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) recently released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory warning critical infrastructure operators about the threat of Russian state-sponsored cyberattacks and recommended best practices to minimize disruption from such an attack (the “Advisory”).

The advisory was promptly endorsed by the National Cyber Security Centre, a division of Government Communications Headquarters (“GCHQ”), a UK intelligence agency. Within a few days, data security experts at Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks (“PANW”), and Mandiant confirmed reports of increasing Russian cyberactivity and offered their own recommendations for hardening measures (many of which overlap with the Advisory). (more…)

5 Key European Data Protection Trends for 2022

It seems there will be a packed agenda for EU and UK data protection this coming year. We set out below the 5 hot topics to watch in 2022 including expected legislative reforms, the most interesting cases to follow, and areas which are expected to continue to receive regulatory attention. (more…)

EU Council Publishes Changes to Artificial Intelligence Act Proposal

On 29 November 2021, the Slovenian Presidency (the “Presidency”) of the European Council published its compromise text (“Compromise Text”) on the European Union’s (“EU”) draft Artificial Intelligence Act (“AI Act” or “Act”) alongside a progress report on the Act. While the overall structure of the AI Act and many of its key provisions (including, those relating to potential fines for non-compliance), remain the same, there are some significant proposed changes to the Act which we have noted below including, for example, a new Article on general purpose AI systems. (more…)

5 Global Data Protection Trends To Watch In 2022

*This article was first published by Law360 on January 3, 2022.

A recent discussion with Elizabeth Denham and Claudia Berg of the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office provided ample food for thought on the direction in which data protection regulation both in the U.K. and internationally is headed, including key trends to watch for in data protection.

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