Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On June 29, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission announced that, to account for inflation, it is increasing the civil penalty maximums for certain violations of the FTC Act effective August 1, 2016. The FTC’s authority for issuing these adjustments comes from the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. The Federal Register Notice indicates which sections of the FTC Act the adjustments will apply to, and the corresponding increases. For example, the FTC has increased the maximum fine from $16,000 to $40,000 for certain violations of Section 5 of ...

On June 27, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People's Republic of China held a second reading of the draft Cybersecurity Law (the “second draft”). The law is aimed at strengthening the protection and security of key information infrastructure and important data in China. As we previously reported, the first draft of the Cybersecurity Law was published for comment almost a year ago, but the National People’s Congress has not published the full second draft of the Cybersecurity Law to date.

On June 25, 2016, the Cyberspace Administration of China published its new Administrative Provisions on Internet Information Search Services (the “Provisions”). The Provisions will come into effect on August 1, 2016.

On June 29, 2016, Politico reported that it has obtained updated EU-U.S. Privacy Shield documents following the latest negotiations between U.S. and EU government authorities. Certain aspects of the prior Privacy Shield framework were criticized by the Article 29 Working Party, the European Parliament and the European Data Protection Supervisor.

This post has been updated. 

On June 17, 2016, the National Privacy Commission (the “Commission”) of the Philippines released draft guidelines entitled, Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (“IRR”), for public consultation.

Under the IRR, the processing of personal data has to adhere to the principles of transparency, legitimate purpose and proportionality. The IRR defines personal data as personal information, sensitive information and privileged information. Sensitive information refers to personal information about an individual’s race, ethnicity, health, education, genetic or sexual life of a person, proceedings related to an offense committed by a person, health records and tax returns. According to the IRR, the personal information controller should take organizational, physical and technical security measures for data protection. Such security measures include the designation of a privacy officer, limitations on physical access and the adoption of technical and logical security measures.

With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) enacted and due to come into force in May 2018, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams and AvePoint have launched a global survey to enable organizations to benchmark their readiness for the GDPR. The survey focuses on the key areas of impact and change for organizations under the GDPR, such as consent, legitimate interest, data portability, profiling, privacy impact assessments, DPOs, data transfers and privacy management program.

On June 22, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Singaporean-based mobile advertising network, InMobi, resolving charges that the company deceptively tracked hundreds of millions of consumers’ locations, including children, without their knowledge or consent. Among other requirements, the settlement orders the company to pay $950,000 in civil penalties. 

On June 23, 2016, the UK held a referendum to decide upon its continued membership in the European Union. The outcome has resulted in the decision for the UK to withdraw its membership from the European Union. Despite the result, data protection standards are unlikely to be affected.

On June 22, 2016, the Bavarian Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) issued a short paper on certifications under Article 42 of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The GDPR will become effective on May 25, 2018.

This paper is part of a series of papers that the Bavarian DPA will be issuing periodically on specific topics of the GDPR to inform the public about what topics are being discussed within the DPA. The DPA emphasizes that these papers are non-binding.

Hunton & Williams announces its participation with the Global Legal Group in the publication of the third edition of the book The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Data Protection 2016. The guide provides corporate counsel and international practitioners with a comprehensive worldwide legal analysis of the laws and regulations relating to data protection. Bridget Treacy, partner and head of the UK privacy and cybersecurity practice, served as the contributing editor of the guide and co-authored the UK chapter.

On June 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) announced that its multistakeholder process to develop a code of conduct regarding the commercial use of facial recognition technology had concluded with the group reaching a consensus on a best practices document. As we previously reported, the NTIA announced the multistakeholder process in December 2013 in response to the White House’s February 2012 privacy framework, which directed the NTIA to oversee the development of codes of conduct that specify how the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights applies in specific business contexts.

TCCWNA. The very acronym evokes head scratches and sighs of angst and frustration among many lawyers in the retail industry. You have probably heard about it. You may have even been warned about it. And you may currently be trying to figure out how best to minimize your risk and exposure this very moment. But what is it and why has virtually every retailer been hit with a TCCWNA class action demand letter or lawsuit in the past few months? And why are most retailers scrambling to update the terms and conditions of their websites?

On June 16, 2016, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) launched a public consultation on the four priority topics identified by the Article 29 Working Party (“Working Party”) in its February 2016 action plan for the implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

On June 9, 2016, the Belgian Privacy Commission (the “Belgian DPA”) published its Annual Activity Report for 2015 (the “Annual Report”) highlighting its main accomplishments.

On June 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) jointly issued final guidance on the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (“CISA”). Enacted in December 2015, CISA includes a variety of measures designed to strengthen private and public sector cybersecurity. In particular, CISA provides protections from civil liability, regulatory action and disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and other open government laws for “cyber threat indicators” (“CTI”) and “defensive measures” (“DM”) that are shared: (1) among businesses or (2) between businesses and the government through a DHS web portal. Congress passed CISA in order to increase the sharing of cybersecurity information among businesses and between businesses and the government, and to improve the quality and quantity of timely, actionable cybersecurity intelligence in the hands of the private sector and government information security professionals.

According to Bloomberg BNA, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework could be approved by the European Commission in early July. The Privacy Shield is a successor framework to the Safe Harbor, which was invalidated by the European Court of Justice in October 2015. Certain provisions of the Privacy Shield documents, previously released by the European Commission on February 29, 2016, have been subjected to criticism by the Article 29 Working Party, the European Parliament and the European Data Protection Supervisor. According to Bloomberg BNA, the previously released draft adequacy decision, one of the Privacy Shield documents released on February 29, 2016, is expected to be modified.

On June 8, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Practice Fusion, an electronic health records company, agreed to settle FTC charges that the company misled consumers about the privacy of doctor reviews submitted to the company.

In a recent video segment, “What Do You Do with a Hacked Law Firm?”, from Mimesis Law’s Cy-Pher Executive Roundtable held in May, Lisa Sotto, chair of the firm’s Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice, and other privacy professionals discussed the Federal Trade Commission’s jurisdiction in bringing enforcement actions against law firms in a breach event. “There’s no reason why law firms are exempt from [those actions],” says Sotto. However, if the information lost is financial information or trade secrets rather than personal information, “it’s not ...

On June 13, 2016, the U.S. government expressed its wish to join the legal proceedings brought by Max Schrems concerning the validity of international data transfers under EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Along with the U.S. government, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and the Business Software Alliance, an industry trade group, also informed Ireland’s High Court of their desire to be added to the case as amici curiae, or "friends of the court."

In a recent video published by Mimesis Law, Lisa Sotto, chair of the firm’s Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice, was interviewed during Mimesis Law’s Cy-Pher Executive Roundtable in New York. Sotto, along with several other privacy professionals, discussed the risks that law firms face in protecting their clients’ confidential information, as well as their own data. “[Law firms] are seeing multiple restrictions from clients imposing safeguards on [firms] with respect to their data,” explains Sotto. “Companies that work with law firms need to understand ...

On May 19, 2016, Hunton & Williams LLP and The Advisory Board Company hosted a webinar on How to Discuss Cybersecurity with Your C-Suite and Board of Directors. Hunton partner Matthew Jenkins moderated the session, and speakers included partner Paul Tiao, member of the firm’s Global Technology and Privacy practice, and The Advisory Board Company’s Chief Information Security Officer and Senior Research Director. Together, they provided insight and advice on how to have a productive conversation about security and risk with the most senior leaders in a health care ...

On June 2, 2016, the European Union and the U.S. signed an Umbrella Agreement, which will implement a comprehensive data protection framework for criminal law enforcement cooperation. The agreement is not yet in effect and additional procedural steps are needed to finalize the agreement. The European Council will adopt a decision on the Umbrella Agreement after obtaining consent from the European Parliament.

The Federal Trade Commission announced that it will host a workshop on September 15, 2016, “Putting Disclosures to the Test,” on the efficacy and costs of consumer disclosures in advertising and privacy policies. Planned discussion topics include examining disclosures meant to avoid deception in advertising, disclosures designed to inform consumers of data tracking, and industry-specific disclosures for jewelry, environmental and fuel-saving claims. The workshop is open to the public and will take place at the FTC’s Constitution Center offices in Washington, D.C ...

On June 1, 2016, a new do-not-call list (the “BLOCTEL list”) was implemented in France. French residents who do not wish to receive marketing phone calls may register their landline or mobile phone number online at www.bloctel.gouv.fr.

In a recently published decision, the Belgian Court of Cassation confirmed the broad interpretation given to the “right to be forgotten” by a Belgian Court of Appeal (i.e., Cour d’Appel de Liège, 2013/RG/393, September 25, 2014).

The judgment was rendered in a case initiated by an individual against a Belgian newspaper for not complying with a request to remove from its online archives an article from 1994 regarding a car accident causing the death of two persons in which the individual was involved.

On May 30, 2016, the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) released its Opinion (the “Opinion”) on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Privacy Shield”) draft adequacy decision. The Privacy Shield was created to replace the previous Safe Harbor framework invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in the Schrems decision.