Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On September 18, 2014, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) announced plans to review 100 French websites on September 18-19, 2014. This review is being carried out in the context of the European “cookies sweep day” initiative, an EU online compliance audit. The Article 29 Working Party organized this joint action, which runs from September 15-19, 2014, to verify whether major EU websites are complying with EU cookie law requirements.

On September 16, 2014, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the latest webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program covered a number of privacy and data protection topics, including updates in the EU and Germany, highlights on the UK Information Commissioner’s Office annual report and an APEC update.

On September 2, 2014, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published a consultation on the framework criteria for selecting scheme providers for its privacy seal scheme. The consultation gives organizations the opportunity to provide recommendations for the framework criteria that will be used to assess the relevant schemes. The consultation is open until October 3, 2014.

On September 8, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell announced that SEI/Aaron’s, Inc. has entered into an assurance of discontinuance, which includes $51,000 in total fines, to settle charges over the company’s remote monitoring of its customers’ leased laptops. The settlement stems from charges accusing SEI/Aaron’s, an Atlanta-based franchise of the national rent-to-own retailer Aaron’s, Inc., of unlawfully using surveillance software on its leased laptops to assist the company in the collection of its customers’ overdue rental payments. The Vermont Office of the Attorney General claimed that such remote monitoring of the laptop users’ online activities in connection with debt collection constituted an unfair practice in violation of the Vermont Consumer Protection Act.

Hunton & Williams Insurance Litigation & Counseling partner Lon Berk reports:

An Israeli security firm recently uncovered a hacking operation that had been active for more than a decade. Over that period, hackers breached government servers, banks and corporations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria by using over 800 phony front companies (which all had the same IP address) to deliver unique malware to victims’ systems. The hackers purchased digital security certificates for each phony company to make the sites appear legitimate to visitors. Data reportedly stolen included studies on biological warfare and nuclear physics, plans for key infrastructure, and bank account and credit card data.

On September 10, 2014, the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (“GPEN”) published the results of an enforcement sweep carried out in May of this year to assess mobile app compliance with data protection laws. Twenty-six data protection authorities worldwide evaluated 1,211 mobile apps and found that a large majority of the apps are accessing personal data without providing adequate information to users.

On September 10, 2014, Helen Dixon was announced as the new Data Protection Commissioner for Ireland. Dixon currently is registrar of the Companies Registration Office and has experience in both the private and public sectors, including senior management roles in the Department of Jobs. Dixon will take up her appointment over the coming weeks, succeeding Billy Hawkes in the role. Hawkes has served as Commissioner for two terms since 2005.

The Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) recently released its August 1, 2014 statement providing recommendations on the actions that EU Member States should take in light of the European Court of Justice’s April 8, 2014 ruling invalidating the EU Data Retention Directive (the “Ruling”).

On September 3, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission announced that Verizon has agreed to pay $7.4 million to settle an FCC Enforcement Bureau investigation into Verizon’s use of personal information for marketing. The investigation revealed that Verizon had used customers’ personal information for marketing purposes over a multiyear period before notifying the customers of their right to opt out of such marketing.

On September 2, 2014, a federal district court in California granted final approval to a settlement ending a class action against Bank of America (“BofA”) and FIA Card Services stemming from allegations that the defendants “engaged in a systematic practice of calling or texting consumers’ cell phones through the use of automatic telephone dialing systems and/or an artificial or prerecorded voice without their prior express consent, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).” The court granted preliminary approval to the settlement in December 2013.