Privacy Updates from China: Proliferation of Sector-Specific Rules As Key Legislation Remains Pending – Part 2: Data Protection in the Financial Sector

By Yan Luo, Zhijing Yu and Vicky Liu on Posted in China, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Financial Institutions, Financial Privacy, Privacy and Data Security

In Part 1 of this blog series (see here), we discussed recent data protection developments in China’s e-commerce sector.  In this post, we discuss recently issued rules aimed at improving data governance in China’s financial sector that could also have data protection implications.  These rules can be categorized as falling into two groups: the first group focuses on general data governance requirements applicable to all financial institutions, and the second group regulates specific types of financial services.

These new rules were published by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (“CBIRC”) and People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) during the first quarter of 2021, and include:

  • Guidelines for Data Capacity-Building in the Financial Industry (“Guidelines”) (official Chinese version available here);
  • Financial Data Security – Data Life Cycle Security Standard (“Standard”) (official Chinese version available here); and
  • Draft Credit Reporting Management Measures (“Draft Measures”) (official Chinese version available here).

Both the Guidelines and Standard provide detailed criteria for financial institutions on the proper collection, use and protection of “financial data,” while the Draft Measures introduce data-related requirements for licensed credit reporting agencies.  All of these new rules include data security requirements for both personal and non-personal data.

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Irish Parliamentary Committee Hearing Discusses Criticism of the Irish DPC

By Marie Daly on Posted in EU Data Protection, European Union, European Union, GDPR

On April 27, 2021, the Irish Oireachtas Committee on Justice met in Dublin to consider recent written submissions received criticising the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).  The meeting was divided into two hour-long meetings with the first meeting devoted to the criticisms of Max Schrems, the Austrian privacy campaigner, and Fred Logue, an Irish data protection lawyer.  The second meeting, the longer of the two, heard from Helen Dixon, the Data Protection Commissioner, and the Irish Council of Civil Liberties.

Ten politicians, including the Chair (a lawyer with data law experience), questioned each of the invitees on what was a limited agenda.  Each participant was limited to a five minute opening statement after which member politicians attending queried them.  Discussion of ongoing cases was not permitted.

The Committee scheduled Mr. Schrems and Ms. Dixon on separate panels, presumably to avoid a repeat of Ms. Dixon’s objection to the previous invitation from the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee proposing to hear from both together at the same hearing.  Each in turn were the key participants in their panel discussions.  Mr. Schrems repeated criticisms he has made previously and Ms. Dixon gave a strong defence of her office. Continue Reading

Privacy Updates from China: Proliferation of Sector-Specific Rules As Key Legislation Remains Pending – Part 1: Data Protection in the E-Commerce Sector

By Yan Luo, Zhijing Yu and Vicky Liu on Posted in China, Consumer Protection, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Privacy and Data Security

When China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress (“NPC”), enacted the Cybersecurity Law (“CSL”) in 2017, it set into motion a new era of data governance in China.  Three years later, in 2020, the NPC followed up this landmark act with two other legislative milestones in this space: the draft Data Security Law (“DSL”) (see our blogpost here) and draft Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”) (see our client alert here).  Both the PIPL and DSL will be finalized this year.  Taken as a whole, these three laws form an over-arching framework that will govern data protection and cybersecurity in China for years to come.

While the DSL and PIPL have remained in draft form over the past year, the Chinese government has not stood idly by – instead, various Chinese regulators have continued to introduce data- and cyber-related rules in  key sectors.  Many of these sectoral rules do not appear to be primarily focused on data protection or cybersecurity, yet they may indirectly impact the collection, use and processing of personal information in specific sectors.  The rollout of these new rules has not been fully coordinated, and the approaches taken in some cases deviate from the over-arching framework mentioned above.  We expect this divergence to remain, even after the finalization of the PIPL and DSL.  Consequently, China’s data and cyber regime will likely present a complex web of regulatory rules for organizations to navigate – both now and in the years ahead.

In this blog series, we examine several recently-introduced data and cyber rules in the areas of e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and artificial intelligence – all of which are rapidly expanding sectors in China where the collection and use of massive amounts of personal information have given rise to a variety of regulatory concerns.  We will also explain, in the last blogpost of this series, China’s recent push to regulate how mobile applications can collect and process user data.

In our first blogpost of this series, we focus on recent developments in China’s e-commerce sector.

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Inside Privacy Audiocast: Episode 13 – Data Privacy Developments in Israel

By Dan Cooper on Posted in Cross-Border Transfers, International, Privacy and Data Security

On Episode 13 of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast, Dan Cooper is joined by Dotan Hammer, a Partner in the Internet, Cyber & Copyright Group at Pearl Cohen, to discuss recent privacy developments in Israel, including Israel’s data-economy relations with the EU and the U.S.

Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast offers insights into topical global privacy issues and trends. Subscribe to our Inside Privacy Blog to receive notifications on new episodes.

Florida Legislature Considering Comprehensive Privacy Law

By Libbie Canter, Jayne Ponder, Alexandra Scott and Olivia Vega on Posted in Data, Data Privacy, State Legislatures, United States

Florida may be next state to join the growing number of states with a consumer privacy law, as both chambers of Florida’s legislature are currently considering comprehensive state privacy legislation.  Both HB 969 and SB 1734 resemble the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), though they contain some notable differences.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed support of these measures, stating that these proposals “finally check these companies’ unfettered ability to profit off our data and ensure the protection of Floridians’ personal and private information.”

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Supreme Court Narrows Meaning of TCPA Autodialer Definition

By Rafael Reyneri on Posted in Federal Communications Commission, Litigation, TCPA

Today, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Facebook v. Duguid, adopting a narrow interpretation of a key definitional term in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and resolving the circuit split we previously described here and here.

In effect, the Supreme Court’s opinion means that to qualify as an “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) under the TCPA, a device must use a random or sequential number generator; a device that calls a prescribed set of telephone numbers without using such a number generator would stand outside that definition and thus not be regulated by the TCPA. Continue Reading

“Cyber Shield Act” Calling for IoT Device Certification Reintroduced in Congress

By Micaela McMurrough, Jayne Ponder and Julia Oksasoglu on Posted in Congress, Cybersecurity

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA-33) reintroduced the Cyber Shield Act on March 24, 2021. The proposed legislation is not new to Congress; Sen. Markey and Rep. Lieu previously introduced the Cyber Shield Act in both 2017 and 2019. However, the bill never made it to a vote in either the House or the Senate. Continue Reading

Inside Privacy Audiocast: Episode 12 – Conversation with Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Information Regulator of South Africa

By Dan Cooper and Mosa Mkhize on Posted in Cross-Border Transfers, International, POPIA, Privacy and Data Security, South Africa, Uncategorized

In celebration of data privacy as a human right as part of South Africa’s Human Rights Day 2021, we feature special guest Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Information Regulator of South Africa on Episode 12 of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast. Together with Dan Cooper and Mosa Mkhize, we discuss the Information Regulator of South Africa’s mandate, data protection legislation in South Africa and the implementation of Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast offers insights into topical global privacy issues and trends. Subscribe to our Inside Privacy Blog to receive notifications on new episodes.

Members of the California Privacy Protection Agency Announced

By Alexandra Scott, Lindsey Tonsager, Libbie Canter and Jake Levine on Posted in California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act, Data Privacy

The five members of the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) were announced today.  The members – who were appointed by Governor Newsom, Attorney General Becerra, Senate President pro Tempore Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Rendon – will lead the new agency, which will have rulemaking and enforcement authority under the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”). Continue Reading

Bill Introduced Would Preempt State Laws and Strengthen FTC Enforcement 

By Kurt Wimmer and Andrew Longhi on Posted in Data Privacy, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Federal and State Legislative Initiatives, United States

As the push for Congress to pass comprehensive consumer privacy legislation increases, Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) has re-introduced the Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act, a compromise proposal that contains provisions sought by both parties.  This bill would create national data privacy standards and increase the enforcement authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general. Continue Reading

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