Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On May 29, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth submitted formal comments to the European Commission’s Consultation on a European Strategy for Data (the “Strategy”).

On June 9, 2020, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) published its Annual Activity Report for 2019 (the “Report”).

On June 5, 2020, the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the “Belgian DPA”) published guidance on its website (the “Guidance”) regarding temperature checks during the COVID-19 crisis. The Guidance aims to provide advice to organizations looking to control access to their premises by restricting individuals with fevers in order to prevent further spread of the virus.

On June 3, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP published its report, What Good and Effective Data Privacy Accountability Looks Like: Mapping Organizations’ Practices to the CIPL Accountability Framework (“Report”). The Report consolidates the findings of CIPL’s Accountability Mapping Project launched in September 2019, which is part of CIPL’s broader work on the central role of organizational accountability in data privacy.

On June 1, 2020, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (WA) and Bill Cassidy (LA) introduced the Exposure Notification Privacy Act (the “Act”), bipartisan legislation that would impose requirements and restrictions on operators of automated exposure notification services. The bill defines automated exposure notification service as “a website, online service, online application, mobile application, or mobile operating system that is offered in commerce in the U.S. and that is designed, in part or in full, specifically to be used for, or marketed for, the purpose of digitally notifying, in an automated manner, an individual who may have become exposed to an infectious disease (or the device of such individual, or a person or entity that reviews such disclosures).” These services are commonly referred to as “contact tracing technology” because they are designed to provide alerts when a user comes in near-contact with someone who tested positive for an infectious disease, such as COVID-19.

On June 2, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (the “EDPB”) announced that it had released a statement on restrictions on data subject rights in connection with the state of emergency in EU Member States amid the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Statement”).

On May 29, 2020, the Litigation Chamber of the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the “Belgian DPA”) imposed a fine of €1,000 on a non-profit organization. The decision followed a complaint filed by an individual who continued to receive promotional materials from the organization after he had objected to the processing of his contact details for direct marketing purposes and had requested that the organization erase his data from its database.

On June 3, 2020, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (“the Presidency”) published a progress report on the proposed Regulation concerning the Respect for Private Life and the Protection of Personal Data in Electronic Communications and Repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications), better known as “the Draft ePrivacy Regulation” (the “Progress Report”).

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced its latest Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) settlement with California-based app developer HyperBeard and its individual principals. According to the FTC, since at least 2016, HyperBeard has offered a number of child-directed mobile apps, with names like BunnyBuns, KleptoCats and NomNoms that featured brightly colored, animated characters, such as cats, dogs, bunnies, chicks, monkeys and other cartoon characters, and that are described in child-friendly terms like “super cute” and “silly.” These apps are free to download and play, but they generate revenue through in-app advertising and purchases. The FTC alleges that the defendants were aware that children were using their apps, and that they promoted them to child audiences on a kids’ entertainment website, through children’s books and through the merchandizing of officially licensed plush stuffed animals and toys. Defendants allowed third-party ad networks to collect persistent identifiers from children in order to serve them with interest-based ads without parental notice or consent, in violation of COPPA.

On June 1, 2020, the Office of the California Attorney General submitted the final California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) proposed regulations to the California Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”). Notably, the final proposed regulations are the same as the draft issued in March. The OAL must review the rulemaking package for procedural compliance with California’s Administrative Procedure Act. The OAL’s typical 30-day review period has been extended by 60 calendar days under an executive order related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assuming OAL approves the regulations, the final text will be filed with the Secretary of State.