Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On April 7, 2015, the FTC announced proposed settlements with TES Franchising, LLC, an organization specializing in business coaching, and American International Mailing, Inc., an alternative mail transporting company, related to charges that the companies falsely claimed they were compliant with the U.S.-EU and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks.

As part of its ongoing Brazil outreach initiative, a delegation of the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams (“CIPL”) is in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro the week of March 23, 2015. The delegation will meet with Brazilian government representatives, organizations and experts to discuss global privacy law and best practice developments and other issues of mutual interest, as well as a joint global privacy dialogue workshop in Brazil planned for later this year.

On March 24, 2015, the CNIL announced the implementation of a new procedure that will simplify the registration formalities for French affiliates of groups that have implemented Binding Corporate Rules (“BCRs”).

On February 4, 2015, the German government adopted a draft law to improve the enforcement of data protection provisions that are focused on consumer protection. As reported earlier, the new law would bring about a fundamental change in how German data protection law is enforced.

On January 28, 2015, the German conference of data protection commissioners hosted a European Data Protection Day event called Europe: Safer Harbor for Data Protection? – The Future Use of the Different Level of Data Protection between the EU and the US.

On January 13, 2015, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) published a Referential (the “Referential”) that specifies the requirements for organizations with a data protection officer (“DPO”) in France to obtain a seal for their data privacy governance procedures.

In a decision published on January 6, 2015, the French data protection authority (the “CNIL”) adopted a new Simplified Norm NS 47 (the “Simplified Norm”) that addresses the processing of personal data in connection with monitoring and recording employee telephone calls in the workplace. Data processing operations in compliance with all of the requirements set forth in the Simplified Norm may be registered with the CNIL through a simplified registration procedure. If the processing does not comply with the Simplified Norm, however, a standard registration form must be filed with the CNIL. The Simplified Norm includes the following requirements:

On December 31, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation to move the deadline for compliance to September 1, 2015, for Federal Law No. 242-FZ (the “Localization Law”), which requires companies to store the personal data of Russian citizens in databases located in Russia. The bill that became the Localization Law was adopted by the lower chamber of Russian Parliament in July 2014 with a compliance deadline of September 1, 2016. The compliance deadline was then moved to January 1, 2015, before being changed to September 1, 2015 in the legislation signed by President Putin.

On December 29, 2014, the Hong Kong Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data published guidance (the “Guidance Note”) on the protection of personal data in cross-border data transfers. The Guidance Note was released in light of the Privacy Commissioner’s intention to elaborate on the legal restrictions governing cross-border data transfers in Hong Kong, though these have not yet gone into effect.

On December 14, 2014, the University of Amsterdam and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a press release about two recent meetings of the EU-U.S. Privacy Bridges Project in Washington, D.C. (held September 22-23, 2014) and Brussels (held December 9-10, 2014). The Privacy Bridges Project is a group of approximately 20 privacy experts from the EU and U.S. convened by Jacob Kohnstamm, Chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority and former Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party, to develop practical solutions for bridging the gap between EU and U.S. privacy regimes and legal systems. Bojana Bellamy, President of the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams (the “Centre”), and Fred Cate, the Centre’s Senior Policy Advisor are members of this group.

Former UK Information Commissioner and Centre for Information Policy Leadership (the “Centre”) Global Strategy Advisor Richard Thomas was invited to make a presentation at a roundtable on Privacy Risk Management and Next Steps at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (“OECD’s”) 37th meeting of the Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy (“Working Party”). The meeting was attended by governmental and regulatory officials from most OECD member countries, with various other participants and observers.

On December 5, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) published a Working Document on surveillance, electronic communications and national security. The Working Party (which is comprised of the national data protection authorities (“DPAs”) of each of the 28 EU Member States) regularly publishes guidance on the application and interpretation of EU data protection law. Although its views are not legally binding, they are strongly indicative of the way in which EU data protection law is likely to be enforced.

On November 26, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) released a Working Document providing a cooperation procedure for issuing common opinions on whether “contractual clauses” comply with the European Commission’s Model Clauses (the “Working Document”).

On November 24, 2014, the Polish President Bronisław Komorowski signed into law a bill that was passed by Polish Parliament on November 7, 2014, which amends, among other laws, certain provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act 1997. As a result of the amendments, data controllers will be able to transfer personal data to jurisdictions that do not provide an “adequate level” of data protection without obtaining the prior approval of the Polish Data Protection Authority (Generalny Inspektor Ochrony Danych Osbowych or “GIODO”), provided that they meet certain requirements specified under the bill. In addition, the bill amends Polish law so that it is no longer mandatory to appoint an administrator of information security (administrator bezpieczeństwa informacji or “ABI”). An ABI is similar to a data protection officer but an ABI has narrower responsibilities that predominantly concern data security.

On November 18, 2014, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the latest webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program covered a number of privacy and data protection topics, including a report on the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, highlights on the Council of the European Union’s proposed revisions to the compliance obligations of data controllers and data processors included in Chapter IV of the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation, and U.S. highlights on California’s breach report and Federal Communications Commission enforcement actions.

On September 16, 2014, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the latest webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program covered a number of privacy and data protection topics, including updates in the EU and Germany, highlights on the UK Information Commissioner’s Office annual report and an APEC update.

On August 14, 2014, the Center for Digital Democracy (“CDD”) filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and requested that the Commission investigate 30 companies certified to the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. In the complaint, CDD maintains that it analyzed 30 data marketing and profiling companies that currently are Safe Harbor-certified and identified the following five overarching themes that CDD claims “underscore the fundamental weakness of the Safe Harbor in its current incarnation,” including that the companies: 

On July 15, 2014, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the latest webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program covered a number of privacy and data protection topics, including the recent judgment in the Costeja case, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership’s work on a risk-based approach to privacy, the new Canadian anti-spam legislation that went into effect on July 1, and other developments in the U.S. and EU.

Hunton & Williams, in collaboration with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, recently issued Business Without Borders: The Importance of Cross-Border Data Transfers to Global Prosperity, a report which highlights the benefits of cross-border data transfers to businesses in the international marketplace. The report underscores the importance of developing data transfer mechanisms that protect privacy and facilitate the free-flow of data, and also explores opportunities for new data transfer regimes.

Last week, the Russian Parliament adopted a bill amending portions of Russia’s existing legislation on privacy, information technology and data protection. Among other provisions, the law would create a “data localization” obligation for companies engaged in the transmission or recording of electronic communications over the Internet. Such companies would be required to store copies of the data for a minimum of six months in databases that must be located within the Russian Federation. The new bill also would empower the Russian data protection authority to block public Internet access to any service that does not comply with this requirement.

On June 23, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) published its Opinion 7/2014 on the protection of personal data in Québec (the “Opinion”). In this Opinion, the Working Party provides its recommendations to the European Commission on whether the relevant provisions of the Civil Code of Québec and the Québec Act on the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (the “Québec Privacy Act”) ensure an adequate level of protection for international data transfers in accordance with the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (the “Directive”). Under the Directive, strict conditions apply to personal data transfers to countries outside the European Economic Area that are not considered to provide an adequate level of data protection.

On June 19, 2014, the President’s Export Council (“PEC”) held a meeting to discuss nine key issues, including the effects of foreign laws that restrict cross-border data flows. At the meeting, the private sector members of the PEC submitted a recommendation letter to President Obama expressing their concern about the threat to American business from protectionist, cross-border data transfer restrictions imposed by foreign countries. The letter describes how certain governments are implementing “digital protectionism” in the form of laws and policies restricting the cross-border flow of data (for example, by requiring domestic processing and storage of data citing concerns for personal privacy and national security). These foreign laws may limit the ability of American businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses, to expand their business operations to include countries that enact such measures.

On May 14, 2014, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the latest webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program provided a global overview of some of the most debated topics in data protection and privacy, including cross-border data flows, global data breach issues and the EU Cybersecurity Directive. In addition, we highlighted the latest information regarding the GPEN enforcement sweep.

On May 16, 2014, the Singapore Personal Data Protection Commission (the “Commission”) published advisory guidelines for the implementation of its Personal Data Protection Act (the “PDPA”) for two industry sectors. The guidelines were published on the same day on which the Commission held its well-attended Personal Data Protection Seminar focusing on international perspectives on data governance. The advisory guidelines generally have the following content:

Hunton & Williams LLP, in coordination with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, recently issued a report entitled Business Without Borders: The Importance of Cross-Border Data Transfers to Global Prosperity, highlighting the benefits of cross-border data transfers to businesses in the international marketplace. The report underscores the importance of developing data transfer mechanisms that protect privacy and facilitate the free-flow of data, and also explores opportunities for new data transfer regimes.

On May 12, 2014, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report highlighting the benefits of cross-border data transfers across all sectors of the economy. Hunton & Williams LLP’s Global Privacy and Cybersecurity team developed the report with the Chamber of Commerce. The report, Business Without Borders: The Importance of Cross-Border Data Transfers to Global Prosperity, presents pragmatic solutions for developing international mechanisms that both protect privacy and facilitate cross-border data flows.

On May 9, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with clothing manufacturer American Apparel related to charges that the company falsely claimed to comply with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. According to the FTC’s complaint, the company violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by deceptively representing, through statements in its privacy policy, that it held a current Safe Harbor certification even though it had allowed the certification to expire.

Hunton & Williams LLP’s Centre for Information Policy Leadership president, Bojana Bellamy, has been selected to participate in the “Privacy Bridge Project,” a new transatlantic initiative that seeks to develop practical solutions to bridge the gap between European and U.S. privacy regimes. Bellamy joins a distinguished group of approximately 20 privacy experts from the EU and U.S., convened by Jacob Kohnstamm, Chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority and former Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party.

On April 16, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) sent a letter (the “Letter”) to Lilian Mitrou, Chair of the Working Group on Information Exchange and Data Protection (the “DAPIX”) of the Council of the European Union, to support a compromise position on the one-stop-shop mechanism within the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”).

On April 23, 2014, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff enacted the Marco Civil da Internet (“Marco Civil”), Brazil’s first set of Internet regulations. The Marco Civil was approved by the Brazilian Senate on April 22, 2014. President Rousseff signed the law at the NETMundial Internet Governance conference in São Paulo, a global multistakeholder event on the future of Internet governance.

On April 9, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued an Opinion on using the “legitimate interests” ground listed in Article 7 of the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC as the basis for lawful processing of personal data. Citing “legitimate interests” as a ground for data processing requires a balancing test, and it may be relied on only if (1) the data processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of the controller (or third parties), and (2) such interests are not overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject. With the Opinion, the Working Party aims to ensure a common understanding of this concept.

On April 10, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) adopted Opinion 04/2014. The Opinion analyzes the implications of electronic surveillance programs on the right to privacy and provides several recommendations for protecting EU personal data in the surveillance context.

On April 10, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued a letter (the “Letter”) to Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, expressing its views on the European Commission’s ongoing revision of the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework.

On March 21, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued a Working Document containing draft ad-hoc contractual clauses for transfers of personal data from data processors in the EU to data sub-processors outside the EU (the “Working Document”).

On March 18, 2014, Brazilian lawmakers announced the withdrawal of a provision in pending legislation that would have required Internet companies to store Brazilian users’ data within the country.

On March 12, 2014, the European Parliament formally adopted the compromise text of the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “Regulation”). The text now adopted by the Parliament is unchanged and had already been approved by the Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in October of last year. The Parliament voted with 621 votes in favor, 10 against and 22 abstentions for the Regulation.

On February 21, 2014, Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”), highlighted the need to enforce existing EU data protection law and swiftly adopt EU data protection law reforms as an essential part of rebuilding trust in EU-U.S. data flows.

In a decision published on February 11, 2014, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) adopted several amendments to its Single Authorization AU-004 regarding the processing of personal data in the context of whistleblowing schemes (the “Single Authorization”).

On February 11, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement with Fantage.com stemming from allegations that the company made statements in its privacy policy that deceptively claimed that Fantage.com was complying with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.

On January 28, 2014, Data Protection Day, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding gave a speech in Brussels proposing a new data protection compact for Europe. She focused on three key themes: (1) the need to rebuild trust in data processing, (2) the current state of data protection in the EU, and (3) a new data protection compact for Europe.

On January 21, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced settlements with twelve companies that allegedly falsely claimed that they complied with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The settlements stem from allegations that the companies violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by falsely representing that they held current Safe Harbor certifications despite having allowed their certifications to expire. The companies involved represent a variety of industries, ranging from technology and accounting to consumer products and National Football League teams.

On January 21, 2014, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the latest webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program highlighted some of the key privacy developments that companies will encounter in 2014, including cybersecurity issues in the U.S., California’s Do Not Track legislation, Safe Harbor, the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the CNIL’s new cookie guidance.

The EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework is an important cross-border data transfer mechanism that enables certified organizations to move personal data from the European Union to the United States in compliance with European data protection laws. Recently, however, the Safe Harbor’s future has been thrown into doubt. In an article published on October 30, 2013 by Practical Law, Lisa J. Sotto, partner and head of the Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hunton & Williams LLP, partner Bridget Treacy and associate Naomi McBride, examine the Safe Harbor Framework and its future ...

On November 19, 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China published a draft of its proposed new Administrative Measures on Personal Health Information (the “Draft Measures”) and solicited public comments by December 20, 2013.

On November 27, 2013, the European Commission published an analysis of the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework, as well as other EU-U.S. data transfer agreements. The analysis includes the following documents:

Brazilian lawmakers, including José Eduardo Cardozo, the Minister of Justice of Brazil, and Ideli Salvatti, the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, held several consensus-building meetings with party leaders over the past two weeks to reach a voting agreement on the Marco Civil da Internet (“Marco Civil”), a draft bill introduced in the Brazilian Congress in 2011. The Marco Civil would establish Brazil’s first set of Internet regulations, including requirements regarding personal data protection and net neutrality.

On November 14, 2013, the Minister of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (the “Minister”) announced that Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (the “Act”) would be going into effect as of November 15, marking the end of years of postponements. The following features of the law are of particular significance:

On November 26, 2013, Kazakhstan’s new data privacy law, On Personal Data and Their Protection, will come into effect. The law was passed on May 21, 2013. Kazakhstan is the second country in Central Asia to enact a data privacy law, joining the Kyrgyz Republic, which passed the Law on Personal Data in 2008.

On October 21, 2013, the European Parliament approved its Compromise Text of the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”). The approval follows months of negotiations between the various parliamentary committees. The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (“LIBE”) has been in charge of working toward an agreement on the Compromise Text in the European Parliament.

On October 19, 2013, the Center for Internet and Society (“CIS”), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Data Security Council of India held a Privacy Roundtable in New Delhi, the last in a series of roundtables that began in April 2013. The events were designed to elicit comments on a draft Privacy Protection Bill, proposed legislation for a privacy and personal data protection regime in India. The law would regulate the collection and use of personal data in India, as well as surveillance and interception of communications.

At its meeting on October 7, 2013, the Council of the European Union voiced support for the “one-stop-shop” mechanism in the draft General Data Protection Regulation (the “Regulation”). The “one-stop-shop” mechanism allocates responsibility for overseeing data processing activities in multiple EU Member States to the data protection authority of the EU Member State where the data controller or processor has its main establishment. At the Council meeting, a majority of the EU Member States indicated that the responsible data protection authority should have exclusive decision powers with regard to enforcement actions, but acknowledged that the “local” DPAs should be involved in the decisionmaking process as well. The Council emphasized the need for further exploration of the European Data Protection Board’s role in ensuring consistent application of EU data protection rules.

On September 30, 2013, Hunton & Williams LLP hosted representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce for a timely discussion of the Safe Harbor Framework, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) Cross-Border Privacy Rules System (“CBPRs”), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) negotiations. The panel also addressed the development of privacy codes of conduct and privacy legislation being developed by the Department of Commerce.

On September 5, 2013, the 16 German state data protection authorities and the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (the “DPAs”) passed a resolution concerning recent revelations about the PRISM, Tempora and XKeyscore surveillance programs.

As reported by Bloomberg BNA, the South African Parliament passed the Protection of Personal Information Bill on August 22, 2013. The bill, which was sent to President Jacob Zuma to be signed into law, represents South Africa’s first comprehensive data protection legislation.

As reported by Bloomberg BNA, the Irish Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (“ODPC”) has stated that it will not investigate complaints relating to the alleged involvement of Facebook Ireland Inc. (“Facebook”) and Apple Distribution International (“Apple”) in the PRISM surveillance program.

On July 22-23, 2013, the APEC E-Commerce Business Alliance and the China International Electronic Commerce Center, a subsidiary organization of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, held a seminar in Beijing entitled Workshop on the Online Data Privacy Protection in APEC Region. In addition to delegates from Mainland China, representatives from numerous other jurisdictions were in attendance, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

On July 24, 2013, the Conference of the German Data Protection Commissioners at both the Federal and State levels issued a press release stating that surveillance activities by foreign intelligence and security agencies threaten international data traffic between Germany and countries outside the EEA.

On June 25, 2013, the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the “Privacy Commission”) and the Belgian Ministry of Justice agreed on a Protocol establishing new rules for the approval of international data transfer agreements.

On June 27, 2013, the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism issued regulations pursuant to the country’s new data protection law. The regulations, entitled Decreto Número 1377 de 2013, por el cual se reglamenta parcialmente la Ley 1581 de 2012, address a variety of topics, including the following:

• Consent requirements relating to the collection of personal data;
• Restrictions on the processing of children’s personal data;
• Content and delivery of privacy notices;
• Cross-border data transfer restrictions;
• Data transfer agreements;
• Internal privacy ...

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (“ITA”) will host a data privacy seminar in Providence, Rhode Island, on Thursday, July 18 from 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. EDT. Seminar participants will hear from Commerce privacy experts who will discuss the Obama Administration’s privacy blueprint and provide updates on significant international developments, including the U.S.-EU and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) group’s work to implement the Cross-Border Privacy Rules System. These privacy developments could have a significant impact on how companies comply with laws and privacy regulations in the United States, Asia and Europe. A representative from the Safe Harbor-certified company Textron Inc. (“Textron”) also will discuss the company’s experience developing and implementing a privacy compliance program.

On July 1, 2013, the Republic of Croatia joined the European Union, increasing the number of EU Member States to 28. As of the day of its accession, Croatia must implement the acquis communautaire (the complete body of the EU legislation), which includes the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (“Data Protection Directive”).

On June 3, 2013, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) published an article outlining the importance of binding corporate rules (“BCRs”) for data processors, and describing how to use them.

On May 31, 2013, the Council of the European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs released a draft compromise text in response to the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”). This compromise text narrows the scope of the Proposed Regulation and seeks to move from a detailed, prescriptive approach toward a risk-based framework.

On May 6, 2013, the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (“GPEN”) announced its first “Internet Privacy Sweep,” in which 19 data protection authorities are participating. This joint effort, which runs May 6-12, 2013, involves a review of the information notices posted online by major websites.

On April 2, 2013, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) adopted an Opinion (the “Opinion”) that elaborates on the purpose limitation principle set out in Article 6(1)(b) of the current EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (the “Data Protection Directive”). The Opinion analyzes the scope of this principle under the Data Protection Directive, clarifies its limits and makes recommendations to strengthen it in the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”). It also focuses on how to apply this principle in the context of Big Data and open data.

On March 26, 2013, the Article 29 Working Party issued a press release on the recent developments concerning cooperation between the EU and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group (“APEC”) on cross-border data transfer rules. A joint EU-APEC committee, which includes the French and German data protection authorities as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Commission, has been studying similarities and differences between the EU’s binding corporate rules (“BCRs”) framework and APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules. The committee’s goal is to facilitate data protection compliance in this area for international businesses operating in the EU and the APEC region, including by creating a common frame of reference for both sets of cross-border data transfer rules.

On March 22, 2013, Peru issued the implementing regulations of its new data protection law. The Reglamento de la Ley No 29733, Ley de Protección de Datos Personales (“Regulations”) provide detailed rules on a variety of topics, including the following:

• Territorial scope;
• notice and consent;
• data transfers;
• processing of personal data relating to children and adolescents;
• data processing in the communications and telecommunications sectors;
• outsourcing;
• information security;
• data subjects’ rights;
• registration of databases;
• codes of conduct; and
• enforcement.

On February 12, 2013, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office published a further analysis of the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”). This latest analysis supplements the initial analysis paper on the Proposed Regulation published on February 27, 2012. Although the general views expressed in its initial paper stand, the ICO has now provided greater detail regarding its views of the substantive provisions of the Proposed Regulation.

On March 7, 3013, Marty Abrams, President of the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP, provided testimony to the International Trade Commission at a hearing on “Digital Trade in the U.S. and Global Economies.” The ITC is investigating digital trade issues, including how privacy law may act as an impediment to international digital trade.

In his testimony, Abrams outlined how privacy and data protection law affect digital trade, addressing issues such as the legal obstacles to big data and analytics and how data protection law creates barriers to ...

The French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) reports that in late January 2013, representatives of the Article 29 Working Party and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group (“APEC”) met in Jakarta, Indonesia, to discuss interoperability between EU Binding Corporate Rules and APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules governing international data transfers. The U.S. Department of Commerce also is participating in the process to develop a roadmap for future progress toward establishing tools companies can use to facilitate true interoperability ...

On February 27, 2013, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued a statement on the European Commission’s proposed revised data protection framework (“Statement”), including the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (“Proposed Regulation”). The Working Party offered amendments to the Proposed Regulation in the form of two Annexes to the Statement on the topics of competence and lead data protection authority (“DPA”) and the exemption for household or personal activities.

Following up on its February 5, 2013 consultation paper, Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission has issued two additional public consultation papers concerning the guidelines the Commission is empowered to issue under the new data protection law. The first proposed set of advisory guidelines examines key concepts in the Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”), with thorough discussions of definitions as well as data protection obligations set forth in the PDPA. The second paper addresses selected topics: analytics and research, anonymization, employment, use of national ID numbers and online activities. In addition, the Commission has produced a cover note on how to submit comments on these public consultations.

On January 17, 2013, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy published its Lineamientos del Aviso de Privacidad (in Spanish) (“Privacy Notice Guidelines” or “Guidelines”), which it prepared in collaboration with the Mexican data protection authority. The Guidelines introduce heightened notice and opt-out requirements for the use of cookies, web beacons and similar technology, and they impose extensive requirements on the content and delivery of privacy notices generally (with respect to all personal data, not just data collected via cookies and other automated means). The Guidelines will take effect in mid-April.

On February 5, 2013, Singapore’s new data protection agency, the Personal Data Protection Commission, published its first consultation paper (the “Paper”) articulating proposals for a data protection regulation. The Paper outlines the Commission’s positions on three key issues: (1) requests for access and correction; (2) transfer of personal data outside of Singapore; and (3) individuals who may act for others under the Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”). The PDPA was passed by the Singapore Parliament in October 2012 and became law in January 2013.

Reporting from Australia, former Australian Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton, Managing Director of Information Integrity Solutions Pty Ltd (“IIS”), writes:

The Australian Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (the “Act”) will make significant changes to the Privacy Act 1988. It’s early days for the changes and the impact for organizations will depend on their circumstances. Over the next 15 months we expect to see a range of guidance material from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

On January 16, 2013, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) released its opinion on the draft report issued by Jan Philipp Albrecht, the rapporteur to the EU Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (the “Report”). The Report included detailed amendments to the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”) submitted by various stakeholders which Rapporteur Albrecht consolidated and distilled into a single text. The CNIL’s Report welcomes these amendments and in particular, the following:

Recently, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (“LIBE”) released a study titled Fighting cyber crime and protecting privacy in the cloud (the “Study”). The Study originally was prepared in October 2012 at the request of the LIBE Committee by the European Parliament’s Policy Department of Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs, with the help of the Centre for European Policy Studies and the Centre d’Etudes sur les Conflits.

On January 10, 2013, the rapporteur to the EU Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (“LIBE”), Jan Philipp Albrecht, presented his draft report (the “Report”) on the proposed amendments to the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”) to the LIBE Committee.

On October 15, 2012, the Singapore Parliament passed the Personal Data Protection Act 2012. Though a law has been under discussion for quite some time, this bill was introduced before Parliament only recently, in September of this year. The new law will apply only to data processing in the private sector as data processing by public agencies (or organizations acting on behalf of public agencies) are already subject to internal government rules. Reportedly, the bill will become law in January 2013, enforceable after 18 months, in mid-2014.

On September 27, 2012, the European Commission presented its new strategy on cloud computing, entitled “Unleashing the Potential of Cloud Computing in Europe.” The Commission’s strategy is outlined on a new webpage that includes a communication document and a more detailed staff working paper.

On July, 19, 2012, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued an Opinion finding that the Principality of Monaco ensures an “adequate level of protection” for personal data within the meaning of the European Data Protection Directive (Article 25 of Directive 95/46/EC) (the “Directive”). Under the Directive, strict conditions apply to personal data transfers to countries outside the European Economic Area that are not considered to provide an “adequate” level of data protection.