Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

The UK Ministry of Justice has issued a Call for Evidence on the effectiveness of current data protection legislation in the UK.  Responses must be submitted by October 6, 2010.  “It will give the [UK] Government a solid evidence base to use in negotiations with other European Union parties.  I believe we have everything to gain from a sensible, proportionate and rights-based data protection framework, and one that works for you as businesses, service-providers and citizens,” said Minister of State for Justice, Lord McNally.

The European Union’s Article 29 Working Party adopted a detailed recommendation on accountability which was submitted to the European Commission on July 13, 2010.  Opinion 3/2010 elaborates on the Working Party’s 2009 recommendation to include a new principle on accountability in the revised EU Data Protection Directive.  

David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, recently sent a letter to creditors of XY Magazine, warning that the creditors’ acquisition of personal information about the debtor’s subscribers and readers in contravention of the debtor’s privacy promises could violate the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”).

On June 21, 2010, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) published its Opinion on a new security bill, the Loi d'orientation et de programmation de la performance de la sécurité intérieure (referred to as “LOPPSI”), which was adopted by the French National Assembly on February 16, 2010, and recently amended by the Senate's Commission of Laws on June 2, 2010.

In a recently published decision rendered on June 16, 2010, the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court ruled that an Internet access provider may store IP addresses for seven days, and therefore, customers have no right to demand immediate deletion of their IP addresses.  The Court’s ruling upheld a decision originally rendered by the regional court of Darmstadt.

The claimant had requested that Deutsche Telekom AG delete the dynamic IP address assigned and stored for each Internet session immediately upon disconnection by a user.  Up to that point, the Internet provider had been retaining IP addresses for 80 days after each billing cycle.  In June 2007, the lower court granted the claimant request, imposing a maximum retention period of seven days for IP addresses.  The Internet provider reduced its IP address retention period accordingly, based on an agreement with the German federal data protection authority.

Hunton & Williams is pleased to announce its 2010 rankings from Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 United States.  The firm was ranked #1 in both surveys for its Privacy and Information Management practice.

Once again, the firm was ranked in "Band 1" for Privacy and Data Security by both the Chambers USA and Chambers Global guides.  Chambers notes, "the team is particularly praised for its international expertise, especially in matters involving the European Union, such as cross-border data transfers."  Clients note that the firm "is a major competitor, especially on data ...

On July 6, 2010, the Irish government formally objected to the adequacy procedure initiated by the European Commission that would have allowed the free flow of European personal data to Israel, over concerns of the possible use of the information by Israeli officials.  This political move follows recent revelations regarding forgery of European passports, including several from Ireland, and their alleged use by Israel’s intelligence services.

On July 7, 2010, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office published a new code of practice for the collection of personal data online.  Launching the new code at a data protection conference, UK Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said, “the benefits of the internet age are clear: the chance to make more contacts, quicker transactions and greater convenience.  But there are risks too.  A record of our online activity can reveal our most personal interests.  Get privacy right and you will retain the trust and confidence of your customers and users; mislead consumers or collect information you don’t need and you are likely to diminish customer trust and face enforcement action from the ICO.”

On July 8, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify the Privacy, Security and Enforcement Rules promulgated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.  The modifications implement changes made by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH” Act) enacted in 2009.

On July 6, 2010, Mexico’s Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares came into force.  As we previously reported, on April 27, 2010, the Mexican Senate unanimously approved this landmark federal data protection law governing the collection, processing and disclosure of personal data by the private sector.  Pursuant to the adoption of the new law, the Mexican Federal Institute of Access to Public Information has changed its name to the Federal Institute of Access to Information and Data Protection.

As reported by the IAPP, the Institute’s ...