According to a press release issued by the European Commission today, the European Parliament and the Member States have agreed to adopt new rules that set the standard for protecting individuals who blow the whistle on breaches of EU law from dismissal, demotion, and other forms of retaliation. This reform, which was first proposed by … Continue Reading
TalkTalk, a major UK telecoms company, has been fined £400,000 for a data breach after they were hacked. This is a record fine given by the ICO (the UK’s data protection authority). Significantly the fine was imposed after a change of leadership this summer when Elizabeth Denham (previously the Information Commissioner in the Canadian province of … Continue Reading
After nearly four years of negotiation and wrangling, European Officials announced yesterday that they had finally reached agreement on the language for the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (“Regulation), which will replace the aging 1995 Data Protection Directive (“Directive”). In many ways, the announcement is welcome news as it will harmonize what had become … Continue Reading
Today, one month after the European Court of Justice decision that invalidated the Safe Harbor framework, the European Commission (the “Commission”) issued a Communication setting forth its position on alternative tools for the lawful transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States. The Commission also stated its objective to conclude negotiations with … Continue Reading
Over the course of the coming weeks, we will examine the various options available to companies in light of the European Court of Justice’s (CJEU) decision invalidating the US-EU Safe Harbor framework, including model contracts, binding corporate rules (BCRs), consent and reliance on derogations. News out of Germany, however, indicates that a one-size-fits all approach … Continue Reading
The US-EU Safe Harbor has been back in the news recently as Germany’s data protection commissioners met at the end of January and expressed impatience at the delay in implementing what many view as necessary reforms to the program. The European Court of Justice also recently heard a challenge to Facebook’s reliance on the Safe … Continue Reading
On February 3, 2015, European data protection regulators released the Cookie Sweep Combined Analysis Report analyzing how websites use cookies to collect data from European citizens and highlighting noncompliance with Article 5(3) of the EU’s ePrivacy Directive. Among other requirements, this directive mandates that website operators obtain users’ consent for the use of cookies or … Continue Reading
Google launched a new privacy policy that took effect on March 1st, 2012. According to Google, the purpose of revising its privacy policy was to unify into one single privacy policy more than 60 different privacy policies across its wide array of products and services. … Continue Reading
On February 16, 2010, the EU Article 29 Working Party published Opinion 1/2010, in which it clarified the definitions of "data controller" and "data processor" as those designations are used within the European Data Protection Directive. The Working Party's opinion is welcome guidance, as such designations are often difficult to apply in practice, especially given the increasing complexity of globalization, organizational differentiation, and information and communication technologies.
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The European Commission has updated its Standard Contractual Clauses which govern the transfer of personal data from data exporters within the European Union to data processors outside of the European Union.
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On January 5, 2010, the EU Article 29 Data Protection Working Party published an opinion finding that Israel provides an "adequate" level of data protection under the EU Data Protection Directive. Should the European Commission ("EC") adopt the Article 29 Working Party’s recommendation (and there is no reason to think that it would not), Israel … Continue Reading
On October 6, 2009, in one fell swoop, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced proposed settlements of charges against six companies for violations under the US/EU Safe Harbor Program. Specifically, these companies (World Innovators, Inc.; ExpatEdge Partners LLC; Onyx Graphics, Inc.; Directors Desk LLC; Collectify LLC; and Progressive Gaitways LLC) were alleged to have continued … Continue Reading
Last month the French subsidiary of the U.S. based company, Tyco Healthcare, became the first local branch of a U.S. company to be fined for data protection violations. France’s data protection agency, La Commission Nationale de L’informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) levied a fine of 30,000 euro (or about $40,350) against the company after it … Continue Reading
Dubai recently became the first Arab nation to enact a substantial Data Protection Law (DIFC Law No. 1 of 2007) that aims to protect the personal information of its citizens. In a statement announcing the new law, Dubai called the enactment “pioneering in the region” and an examination of the law reveals that the description is rightly … Continue Reading
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