Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On May 9, 2013, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a declaratory ruling clarifying the liability of a seller for violations of the Telemarketing Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) made by third-party telemarketers and others who place calls to market the seller’s products or services.

On May 20, 2013, the Irish Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (“ODPC”) published its annual report for 2012 (the “Report”). The Report summarizes the activities of the ODPC during 2012, including its investigations and audits, policy matters, and European and international activities.

Lisa J. Sotto, head of Hunton & Williams LLP’s Privacy and Data Security practice and managing partner of the New York office, was recently re-appointed as Chair of the Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee (“DPIAC”). Sotto was first appointed Chair of DPIAC in 2012 for a one-year term. This most recent tenure will expire in April 2014.

On May 16, 2013, UK Trade & Investment (“UKTI”), a UK government department working with businesses based in the UK to ensure their success in international markets, published the first export strategy paper (the “Paper”) on the UK’s approach to the $100 billion annual cybersecurity export market.

In November 2011, the UK’s Cyber Security Strategy was published. ‘Objective 1’ of the strategy’s implementation plan recognized that cyberspace is an important and expanding part of the UK economy. One of the supporting actions for Objective 1 was to develop a ...

In April 2013, the People’s Republic of China’s General Office of the National People’s Congress published a draft amendment to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (the “ Proposed Amendment”) and solicited public comments on the Proposed Amendment until May 31, 2013. The Proposed Amendment includes provisions that affect the collection and use of consumer personal information.

On April 30, 2013, the UK government announced guidance on its consultation on cybersecurity standards (the ”Consultation”). The Consultation was launched in March 2013, and follows the UK government’s recent announcement regarding a cybersecurity partnership initiative to facilitate information-sharing on cyber threats.

On May 15, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it sent educational letters to over 90 businesses that appear to collect personal information from children under the age of 13, reminding them of the impending July 1 deadline for compliance with the updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (the “Rule”). The letters were sent to domestic and foreign companies that may be collecting information from children that is now considered “personal information” under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) but was not previously considered “personal information.” The definition of “personal information” under COPPA was expanded to include (1) photos, videos and audio recordings of children; and (2) persistent identifiers that may recognize users over time and across various websites and online services (e.g., cookies and IP addresses).

In March 2013, the UK government launched its consultation on cybersecurity standards (the “Consultation”) following the government’s recent announcement regarding a cybersecurity partnership initiative to facilitate information sharing on cyber threats.

The Obama Administration is in the process of finalizing its review of a statutory electronic surveillance proposal initially developed by the FBI, and is expected to support the introduction of a modified version as legislation. The proposal addresses concerns raised by law enforcement and national security agencies regarding the widening gap between their legal authority to intercept real-time electronic communications pursuant to a court order, and the practical difficulties associated with actually intercepting those communications. According to the government, this gap increasingly prevents the agencies from collecting Internet-based phone calls, emails, chats, text messages and other communications of terrorists, spies, organized crime groups, child pornography distributors and other dangerous actors. The FBI refers to this as the “going dark” problem.

On May 14, 2013, London Economics published the results of an independent survey commissioned by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) to help understand the challenges that the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”) may present to UK businesses (the “Report”).