Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On October 21, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking implementing Executive Order 14117 that will restrict certain transactions with high-risk countries.

On September 19, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced the publication of a staff report entitled, A Look Behind the Screens: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services. The Report documents the data collection and use practices of major social media and video streaming services and provides recommendations for better protecting users’ data and privacy, with a particular focus on children and teens.

On July 22, 2024, Google announced that the company is scrapping its plans to phase out the use of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser. Google previously announced plans in 2020 to phase out third-party cookies, a digital advertising tool that tracks consumers’ Internet activity across websites. The company intended to replace third-party cookies with privacy-protective APIs through its Privacy Sandbox initiative.

On July 22, 2024, Google announced that the company had scrapped its plan to phase out the use of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office joined the recent swell of regulatory and judicial scrutiny into privacy issues related to connected cars, driving data and telematics, launching an investigation on the data practices of several car manufacturers. 

On March 27, 2024, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) issued its AI Accountability Report, and, on March 28, 2024, the White House announced the Office of Budget and Management’s (“OMB’s”) government-wide policy on AI risk management.

On November 18, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) released a statement on the Digital Services Package and Data Strategy (the “Statement”). The Digital Services Package and Data Strategy is a package composed of several legislative proposals, including the Digital Services Act (“DSA”), the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”), the Data Governance Act (“DGA”), the Regulation on a European approach for Artificial Intelligence (“AIR”) and the upcoming Data Act (expected to be presented shortly). The proposals aim to facilitate the further use and sharing of personal data between more public and private parties; support the use of specific technologies, such as Big Data and artificial intelligence (“AI”); and regulate online platforms and gatekeepers.

On April 22, 2021, the Belgian Constitutional Court annulled (in French) the framework set forth by the Law of 29 May 2016 (the “Law”) requiring telecommunications providers to retain electronic communications data in bulk.

On January 11, 2021, the FTC announced that Everalbum, Inc. (“Everalbum”), developer of the “Ever” photo storage app, agreed to a settlement over allegations that the company deceived consumers about its use of facial recognition technology and its retention of the uploaded photos and videos of users who deactivated their accounts.

On August 18, 2020, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) published a draft report, Four Principles of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (Draft NISTIR 8312 or the “Draft Report”), which sets forth four proposed principles regarding the “explainability” of decisions made by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) systems.

On January 16, 2019, Hunton Andrews Kurth hosted a breakfast seminar in London, entitled “GDPR: Post Implementation Review.” Bridget Treacy, Aaron Simpson and James Henderson from Hunton Andrews Kurth and Bojana Bellamy from the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth discussed some of the challenges and successes companies encountered in implementing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), and also identified key data protection challenges that lie ahead. The Hunton team was joined by Neil Paterson, Group Data Protection Coordinator of TUI Group; Miles Briggs, Data Protection Officer of TUI UK & Ireland; and Vivienne Artz, Chief Privacy Officer at Refinitiv, who provided an in-house perspective on the GDPR.

On May 2, 2018, the Belgian Privacy Commission (the “Belgian DPA”) published its Annual Activity Report for 2017 (the “Annual Report”), highlighting its main accomplishments for the past year.

Stephen Mathias of the law firm Kochhar & Co. reports from India that in a landmark judgment delivered in August 2017, the Supreme Court of India (“Court”) unanimously held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India. The Court also delivered six separate concurring judgments, with the main judgment being delivered by four of the nine judges.

On November 21, 2016, against the backdrop of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and Brexit, UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham delivered a keynote speech at the Annual Conference of the National Association of Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officers. During the address, Denham discussed the UK ICO’s ongoing preparations for the GDPR, reiterating the government’s position that the GDPR will be implemented in the UK. 

Recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke at Germany’s 10th National IT Summit, and called for EU Member States to take a pragmatic approach to the application of EU data protection laws. Chancellor Merkel warned that a restrictive interpretation of data protection laws risks undermining the development of big data projects in the EU. Ahead of the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation throughout the EU in May 2018, Merkel argued that, more than simply preventing the excesses of personal data use, data protection law should serve to enable emerging data ...

On September 23, 2016, the European Data Protection Supervisor (the “EDPS”) released Opinion 8/2016 (the “Opinion”) on the coherent enforcement of fundamental rights in the age of big data. The Opinion updates the EDPS’ Preliminary Opinion on Privacy and Competitiveness in the Age of Big Data, first published in 2014, and provides practical recommendations on how the EU’s objectives and standards can be applied holistically across the EU institutions. According to the EDPS, the Digital Single Market Strategy presents an opportunity for a coherent approach with respect to the application of EU rules on data protection, consumer protection, antitrust enforcement and merger control. In addition, the EDPS calls for greater dialogue and cooperation between data protection, consumer and competition authorities in order to protect the rights and interests of individuals, including the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination.

Recently, the National Privacy Commission (the “Commission”) of the Philippines published the final text of its Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10173, known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (the “IRR”). The IRR has a promulgation date of August 24, 2016, and went into effect 15 days after the publication in the official Gazette.

On February 25, 2016, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) issued a press release announcing the decision by the Joint Oversight Panel of the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group to approve the Japan Institute for Promotion of Digital Economy and Community (“JIPDEC”) as a new “Accountability Agent” under the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (“CBPR”) system. Along with TRUSTe, JIPDEC will now be able to independently assess the compliance of companies under the APEC CBPR system. With this approval, Japan is now a fully operational participant in the APEC CBPR system.

On February 22, 2016, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”), together with TRUSTe, the Information Accountability Foundation and Information Integrity Solutions, will co-host a workshop on Building a Dependable Framework for Privacy, Innovation and Cross-Border Data Flows in the Asia-Pacific Region in Lima, Peru. The workshop will be held in the margins of the upcoming meetings of the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group and its Data Privacy Subgroup in Lima from February 23-27, 2016.

On January 6, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission released its report on big data entitled Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? Understanding the Issues. The report is a compilation of a seminar on alternative scoring products, the discussions at a big data public workshop held on September 15, 2014, and other recent research and public commentary on the issue.

On November 19, 2015, the European Data Protection Supervisor (the “EDPS”) published an Opinion entitled Meeting the Challenges of Big Data (the "Opinion"). The Opinion outlines the main challenges, opportunities and risks of big data, and the importance placed on companies processing large volumes of personal data to implement innovative methods to comply with data protection laws.

On November 20, 2015, Markus Heyder, Vice President of the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton & Williams LLP, discussed how “transparency is increasingly understood as a core component of addressing the challenges of the modern information economy” and a key catalyst for a productive and innovative information economy in an article entitled Transparency and the Future of Driverless Privacy published by the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

On October 27, 2015, Hunton & Williams LLP’s Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) will conduct a joint workshop with Nymity on Bridging Disparate Privacy Regimes through Organizational Accountability. As a side event to the 37th International Privacy Conference in Amsterdam during the week of October 26, the workshop is specifically designed to support and further explore the theme of global “Privacy Bridges” that will be discussed at the International Privacy Conference. Organizational accountability is one of the proposed bridges in the Privacy Bridges Report which the international expert group released earlier this week.

On October 15 and 16, 2015, Hunton & Williams is pleased to sponsor PDP’s 14th Annual Data Protection Compliance Conference in London. Bridget Treacy, Head of the UK Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hunton & Williams, chairs the conference, which features speakers from the data protection industry, including Christopher Graham, UK Information Commissioner, and Rosemary Jay, senior consultant attorney at Hunton & Williams.

On October 6 and 7, 2015, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP (“CIPL”), a global privacy policy think-tank based in Washington D.C. and London, and the Instituto Brasiliense de Direito Publico, a legal institute based in Brazil, will co-host a two-day Global Data Privacy Dialogue in Brazil, at the IDP’s conference facilities.

On June 11 and 12, 2015, Asia Pacific Privacy Authority (“APPA”) members, invited observers and guest speakers from the government, private sector, academia and civil society, met in Hong Kong to discuss privacy law and policy issues at the 43rd APPA Forum. At the end of the open session on day two, APPA issued its customary communiqué, setting forth the highlights of the discussions of the open and closed sessions. The Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner, who hosted the APPA meeting, also hosted a conference on big data and privacy on June 10.

On April 10, 2015, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published a summary of the feedback received from its July 28, 2014 report on Big Data and Data Protection (the “Report”). The ICO plans to revise its Report in light of the feedback received on three key questions and re-issue the Report in the summer of 2015. Below are key highlights set forth in the summary, entitled  Summary of feedback on Big Data and data protection and ICO response (“Summary of Feedback”).