Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On November 19, 2012, 40 German advertising associations launched the “German Data Protection Council for Online Advertising,” a new initiative to coordinate and enforce self-regulation in the German online behavioral advertising (“OBA”) sector. The initiative is linked to the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (“EDAA”), which manages the self-regulation efforts of the European online advertising industry.

On December 3, 2012, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (the “Centre”) at Hunton & Williams will co-host a special International Association of Privacy Professionals (“IAPP”) KnowledgeNet meeting in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting will explore global developments in accountability in the context of the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation and the impact of accountability on data protection management.

Hunton & Williams is pleased to announce the firm maintained its top-tier “Band 1” ranking in Data Protection in the 2013 edition of Chambers UK. Our London-based principals also maintained their high rankings as leading Data Protection lawyers:

• Bridget Treacy, managing partner of the firm’s London office and head of the UK Privacy and Data Security practice, was ranked as a “Star Individual.”
• Richard Thomas, Global Strategy Advisor to the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP, was ranked as a “Senior Statesman.”
• Rosemary Jay, a senior ...

In late October 2012, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris began sending letters to approximately 100 mobile app operators, informing them that they are not in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”). Pursuant to CalOPPA, “an operator of a commercial Web site or online service that collects personally identifiable information through the Internet about individual consumers residing in California who use or visit its commercial Web site or online service” must post a privacy policy that contains specified elements. A mobile app arguably could be an “online service” under CalOPPA, which provides that an online service operator that collects “personally identifiable information” and “fails to post its policy within 30 days after being notified of noncompliance” is in violation of CalOPPA. The law affects a wide range of mobile app operators because of its very broad definition of “personally identifiable information,” which includes any “individually identifiable information about an individual consumer collected online by the operator from that individual and maintained by the operator in an accessible form,” such as a name, an email address or any other identifier “that permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual.”

On November 16, 2012, European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx published an Opinion on the European Commission’s Communication on cloud computing (part of the Commission’s broader cloud computing strategy). The Opinion focuses on the accountability principle and emphasizes the importance of clearly defining the responsibilities of all parties involved in cloud computing, and analyzes specific cloud computing issues in the context of both the current EU data protection framework, as well as the proposed General Data Protection Regulation.

On November 15, 2012, the UK Office of Fair Trading (the “OFT”) launched a call for information to investigate whether offering “personalized pricing” based on data companies collect about consumers’ online behavior violates consumer protection legislation in the UK. The OFT will look at how companies gather data related to “consumers’ browsing history, purchases, demographic, hardware, operating system, etc and use this to personalise products and prices.” In particular, as indicated on the OFT’s website, the OFT will analyze:

On November 20, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published guidance on IT asset disposal for organizations (the “Guidance”) to explain “to data controllers what they need to consider when disposing of electronic equipment that may contain personal data.”

On November 20, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published “Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice” (the “Code”). The purpose of the Code is to provide organizations with a framework for assessing the risks of anonymization. It also sets forth good practice recommendations that may be adopted by organizations to provide a “reasonable degree of confidence” that the publication and sharing of anonymized data will not lead to an “inappropriate disclosure of personal data.” The published Code follows a consultation on the same topic earlier this year. The ICO also announced the creation of the UK Anonymisation Network, which will promote the sharing of good practices related to anonymization across the public and private sectors.

On November 9, 2012, a federal District Court in Washington certified a national class and a Washington state sub-class in an action alleging that Papa John’s International, Inc. (“Papa John’s”) violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by sending unsolicited text messages advertising its pizza products. The court determined that plaintiffs had standing and satisfied all other requirements for class certification.

On December 5, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. EST, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (“ITA”) will be hosting a webinar to discuss data privacy issues. Webinar participants will hear from Commerce privacy experts on the Obama Administration’s privacy blueprint. There also will be an update on significant international data privacy developments such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) forum’s work to implement the Cross-Border Privacy Rules (“CBPRs”) system and the U.S.-European Union and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor ...