The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a major new state law poised to affect the privacy landscape not just in California, but in the U.S. as a whole. (For a detailed overview of the CCPA, read our previous post.) On August 31, the California legislature passed several amendments to the CCPA that will have a significant impact on its implementation.
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
This has been a big year in the data protection world, with the headline-grabbing General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) occupying most of the spotlight with its plethora of privacy-related requirements and potential for high fines for violators. While companies (justifiably) may be focused on the GDPR at the moment, it’s also important to keep an eye on new privacy laws on the horizon in order to avoid last-minute scrambles for compliance as effective dates near. Foremost among these new laws is the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. The Act was introduced and signed quickly in order to prevent voters from facing a similar ballot initiative in the November election. This post provides an overview of the new law, which will go into effect beginning January 1, 2020.
A Primer on the SHIELD Act: New York’s Move to Adopt More Stringent Data Security Requirements
In November 2017, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman introduced the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act (the “Act”) in the state’s Legislature. Companies – big and small – that collect information from New York residents should take note, as the Act could mean increased compliance costs,
GDPR Compliance Update: Which Government Authorities Have Issued Official GDPR Guidance?
This post provides an update as to the current status of official GDPR-related guidance. With a little under a year remaining until the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable, companies are on the lookout for any interpretive guidance from EU or member state authorities that will help them focus their compliance efforts. The EU’s Article 29 Working Party (WP29) thus far has adopted guidelines relating to data portability, the identification of lead supervisory authorities, and the role of data protection officers, and has issued draft guidelines on data protection impact assessments (DPIAs, also known as “Privacy Impact Assessments”). Additionally, EU member states – led by Germany –are beginning to pass laws meant to complement the GDPR and legislate in areas the GDPR leaves to the member states. These laws also provide some clues as to how the GDPR will take effect on a country-by-country basis.
A Primer on China’s New Cybersecurity Law: Privacy, Cross-Border Transfer Requirements, and Data Localization
China’s new Cybersecurity Law is one of the most important pieces of privacy and cybersecurity legislation we’ll see this year, and companies of all sizes need to be aware of its requirements – regardless of whether or not they have a physical presence in China. The new law goes into effect on June 1, 2017, meaning that companies have a few weeks left to familiarize themselves with the law and work on achieving compliance. However, simply reviewing the law itself is not enough: in order to truly understand its requirements, it is important to step back and view the law in the context of the Chinese legal system more generally. This post provides a breakdown of this complex new law and its implications for businesses, and provides additional context needed to understand the Chinese privacy law landscape from a more holistic perspective.
Part 1: Data Breach 101 – Data Breach Notification Laws
In 2017, there are few words that make companies – and their counsel – shudder more than “data breach.” Recent high-profile breaches and the resulting litigation have shown that breaches can be embarrassing, harmful to a company’s brand, and extremely expensive to handle – both in terms of response costs
Kingdom in the Cloud: Saudi Arabia’s Draft Cloud Computing Regulations
Proskauer litigation associate Courtney Bowman and Jonathan Reardon, head of the Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia office of the Middle East-based firm Al Tamini & Co., recently co-authored an article published by Bloomberg about Saudi Arabia’s draft cloud computing regulations. The article analyzes the draft regulations and their potential impact on
Qatar’s New Personal Data Privacy Law
At the end of last year, Qatar became the first Gulf state to enact a comprehensive privacy law. Until now, the many companies that market to consumers or have employees based in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have had to determine their local practices based on the various countries’ patchwork of sector-specific laws and regulations, as well as the differing privacy regimes in force in the region’s business-focused free zones. Now, at least in Qatar, the Personal Data Privacy Law ostensibly serves as a single law governing the collection and processing of data subjects’ personal information, and may serve as an exemplar for future GCC privacy laws.