Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On October 24, 2016, the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed that the UK will implement the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) by May 2018. The UK Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has officially welcomed this confirmation and said that the UK must stay on top of the continuing digital economy evolution. The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) will publish a revised timeline setting out what areas of guidance the ICO will be prioritizing over the next six months.

On November 3, 2016, the High Court of England and Wales handed down its judgment in the case of R (on the application of Santos) v. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin). This high-profile and closely followed case concerns the process that must be followed to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union. In particular, the question before the court was whether the Prime Minister can wield her executive powers to trigger the exit or if she needs Parliamentary approval before doing so. In reaching its decision, the Court ruled in favor of the claimants, meaning that the Prime Minister does not have the power to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union, but instead must first obtain Parliamentary approval.

On October 31, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China held a third reading of the draft Cybersecurity Law (the “third draft”). As we previously reported, the second draft of the Cybersecurity Law was published for comment in June. The National People’s Congress has not yet published the full text of the third draft of the Cybersecurity Law.

On October 20, 2016, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton & Williams LLP hosted a side workshop at the International Conference of Data Protection & Privacy Commissioners focused on transparency and risk assessment, entitled “The Role of Risk Assessment and Transparency in Enabling Organizational Accountability in the Digital Economy.” The workshop was led by Bojana Bellamy, CIPL’s President, and featured contributions from many leaders in the field, including the UK ICO, Belgium and Hong Kong’s Privacy Commissioners, and counsel and privacy officers from several multinational companies.

On October 7, 2016, the French Digital Republic Bill (the “Bill”) was enacted after a final vote from the Senate. The Bill aligns the French legal data protection framework with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) requirements before the GDPR becomes applicable in May 2018.

This post has been updated. 

On October 27, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced the adoption of rules that require broadband Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to take steps to protect consumer privacy (the “Rules”). According to the FCC’s press release, the Rules are intended to “ensure broadband customers have meaningful choice, greater transparency and strong security protections for their personal information collected by ISPs.” 

The National Highway Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) recently issued non-binding guidance that outlines best practices for automobile manufacturers to address automobile cybersecurity. The guidance, entitled Cybersecurity Best Practices for Modern Vehicles (the “Cybersecurity Guidance”), was recently previewed in correspondence with the House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce (“Energy and Commerce Committee”).

Recently, the Cyberspace Administration of China published for public comment a draft of the Regulations on the Online Protection of Minors (“Draft Regulations”). The Draft Regulations are open for comment until October 31, 2016.

A recent update on the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (the “CJEU’s”) website has revealed that Digital Rights Ireland, an Irish privacy advocacy group, has filed an action for annulment against the European Commission’s adequacy decision on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Privacy Shield”).

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The Privacy & Information Security Law Blog was ranked as the #1 Privacy & Data Security blog in LexBlog’s 2015 AmLaw 200 Blog Benchmark Report, and named PR News’ Best Legal PR Blog in 2011. It was noted that the ...