Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

Senior staff changes at the Federal Trade Commission have enhanced privacy’s profile within the agency.  Jessica Rich is the new Deputy Director of Consumer Protection.  Ms. Rich has been the Acting Associate Director responsible for the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection following nearly a decade as Assistant Director for the Division.  Rich has long been seen as the FTC’s staff’s privacy thought leader.  The new Privacy Division Associate Director is Maneesha Mithal.  Ms. Mithal brings a strong international background to the position.  The new Assistant Director is ...

On November 30, the Council of the European Union agreed to allow U.S. anti-terrorism authorities access to financial data of individuals located in the EU under certain circumstances. Under the agreement, U.S. authorities will continue to have access to data collected by Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication ("SWIFT") after a SWIFT database located in Switzerland becomes active later this year (the data had previously been processed in a database located in the U.S.). The agreement contains restrictions on access to the data that have been negotiated ...

Commissioner Viviane Reding has been chosen as Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights, and Citizenship in the new European Commission that is set to take office in early 2010 (assuming approval by the European Parliament).  Ms. Reding's responsibilities will thus include data protection, including the Commission's ongoing review of the EU framework for data protection.  She is currently EU Commissioner for Information Society & Media, where she oversaw review of the e-Privacy Directive and the EU legislative framework for telecommunications.  Commission President ...

On November 12, 2009, the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V., “vzbv”), a non-governmental organization acting as an umbrella for 41 German consumer associations announced that the social networks Xing, MySpace, Facebook, Lokalisten, Wer-kennt-Wen and StudiVZ signed undertakings that they would discontinue use of certain terms and conditions and data protection provisions.  The vzbv sent warning notices to the six leading social network providers regarding a number of clauses.

The main criticism from vzbv referred to ...

On November 24, 2009, the European Parliament formally approved the European Union's telecoms reform package.  This reform proposed by the European Commission in November 2007 consists of various different EU Directives that set-up the legal framework applicable to the electronic communications sector (telecoms) and includes a new e-Privacy Directive.

New provisions of the e-Privacy Directive will strengthen the protection of privacy and personal data in the electronic communication sector and includes the following:

• mandatory notification for personal data breaches ...

On October 29, 2009, the European Commission (the “Commission”) proceeded to the second phase of infringement proceedings against the UK relating to the UK’s implementation of EU e-privacy and personal data protection laws.  EU Member States must ensure the confidentiality of communications by prohibiting interception and surveillance without user's consent.  The Commission maintains that the UK has failed to fully implement these requirements into its national laws and has identified three specific flaws in the existing UK laws governing the confidentiality of electronic communications:

• The UK does not have an independent national authority responsible for (i) supervising the interception of communications and (ii) complaints about unlawful interception of electronic communications, despite the requirement to this effect contained within EU laws and imposed on Member States;

Today, eight federal financial regulatory agencies issued a final Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA") model privacy notice.  The final model notice incorporates financial institutions' required disclosures pursuant to Section 503 of the GLBA.  The GLBA requires, in relevant part, that financial institutions provide consumers with information regarding their collection and sharing of nonpublic personal information.  Financial institutions that adopt the final model notice will be deemed in compliance with the GLBA notice requirements.  The final model notice is the result of the agencies' consumer research and testing.  It is touted as succinct, easy to use and consumer friendly. The final model notice will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Publication is anticipated shortly.

On November 6, 2009, the French Senate proposed a new draft law to reinforce the right to privacy in the digital age (“Proposition de loi visant à garantir le droit à la vie privée à l’heure du numérique”) (the “Draft Law”).  Following a Report on the same topic issued last spring, the Senate made concrete proposals with this Draft Law to amend the Data Protection Act.

On November 9, 2009, Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, announced an investigation of whether Blue Cross and Blue Shield (“BCBS”) violated Connecticut’s data breach notification law by waiting until two months after a data breach had occurred to notify affected Connecticut residents.  The data breach, which Attorney General Blumenthal called “one of the most sizable and significant in Connecticut’s history,” involved the theft of a laptop containing confidential unencrypted data from the car of a BCBS employee in late August.  BCBS notified affected Connecticut residents of the breach in late October.

In a closed session on November 5, 2009, the 31st International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners adopted the International Standards on the Protection of Personal Data and Privacy (the “Standards”).  Although the document is advisory in nature and is not legally binding, it offers guidance to States that have not yet adopted comprehensive data protection laws.  The Spanish Data Protection Agency, which acted as the secretariat for drafting the Standards, held two meetings that included more than fifty privacy enforcement agencies, privacy advocates and businesses before hosting a final drafting session that was reserved for recognized data protection authorities.