Dan Cooper

Daniel Cooper heads up the firm’s growing Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice in London, and counsels clients in the information technology, pharmaceutical research, sports and financial services industries, among others, on European and UK data protection, data retention and freedom of information laws, as well as associated information technology and e-commerce laws and regulations. Mr. Cooper also regularly counsels clients with respect to Internet-related liabilities under European and US laws. Mr. Cooper sits on the advisory boards of a number of privacy NGOs, privacy think tanks, and related bodies.

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Irish Data Protection Commissioner and FTC sign Memorandum of Understanding

By Dan Cooper on July 2, 2013 Posted in Federal Trade Commission, International

The Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Edith Ramirez. The MOU is a statement of cooperation between the two agencies in their efforts to protect consumer privacy. It includes provisions calling for cooperation in relation to enforcement of relevant … Continue Reading

French Data Protection Authority: 3-Month Deadline for Google to Comply With Privacy Laws

By Dan Cooper on June 21, 2013 Posted in Advertising & Marketing, European Union, International

The CNIL announced in a press release on Thursday that it has issued a formal notice to Google Inc. that requires the search engine to provide clear and sufficient information to users about how their data is being used. In particular, the Paris based regulator wants Google to: Define specified and explicit purposes to allow … Continue Reading

EU Data Protection Working Party Sets Out App Privacy Recommendations

By Dan Cooper on March 15, 2013 Posted in Advertising & Marketing, European Union, International, Mobile

By Dan Cooper and Philippe Bradley This week the Article 29 Working Party released its Opinion 2/2013 on apps on smart devices (WP 202), a 30-page report on mobile app privacy and data protection considerations. This development follows on the Working Party’s Statement on the draft General Data Protection Regulation on 27 February 2013 (which … Continue Reading

The ICO Responds to the Leveson Report

By Dan Cooper on January 9, 2013 Posted in European Union, International, United Kingdom

By Dan Cooper, Helena Marttila & Fredericka Argent Following the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal, the UK government commissioned an in-depth inquiry into the accusations made against the British press to be conducted by Lord Justice Leveson. The “Leveson Inquiry” was a full-scale investigation, which culminated in an approximately 2000-page report published in November 2012. The … Continue Reading

Australia Introduces New Privacy Act

By Dan Cooper on December 3, 2012 Posted in Uncategorized

By Daniel Cooper, Fredericka Argent and Ezra Steinhardt On 29 November 2012, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner announced that the Australian government passed the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth) (“the Act”). The Act, due to come into force in March 2014, is the biggest reform to Australian privacy law in … Continue Reading

The European Court of Justice Rules That Austria’s Data Protection Authority Is Not Sufficiently Independent

By Dan Cooper on October 18, 2012 Posted in European Union, International

On 16 October 2012, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled in favour of the European Commission in its claim against Austria that the Austrian Data Protection Authority, the Datenschutzkommission (“DSK”), was not independent from the Austrian government as required under Article 28 of the EU’s Data Protection Directive. The Commission’s action was … Continue Reading

CNIL and Article 29 Working Party Release Report on Google Privacy Policy

By Dan Cooper on October 17, 2012 Posted in European Union, International

By Dan Cooper & Ezra Steinhardt On 16 October, 2012, the French data protection authority, the CNIL, released a report on behalf of the Article 29 Working Party that examines Google’s compliance with European data protection law. The report marks a new stage in an investigation which began nine months ago, when Google announced that … Continue Reading

ICO Issues New £250,000 Fine to Scottish Local Government Body

By Dan Cooper on September 12, 2012 Posted in Data Security, United Kingdom

On 11 September 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that it had fined the Scottish Borders Council £250,000 under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the DPA) following the discovery of a former Council employee’s pension records in a supermarket’s car park paper recycling bank. The document was one of at least 676 files … Continue Reading

UK Parliament Committees Open Consultations on Proposed Data Protection Regulation and Proposed Communications Data Bill

By Dan Cooper on July 16, 2012 Posted in European Union, International, United Kingdom

On 12 July, 2012, the Justice Select Committee, the body tasked by the UK Parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee to give its opinion on the EU Commission’s proposals to reform EU data protection laws, launched a call for written evidence on the following questions: Will the proposed Regulation strike the right balance between the need, on … Continue Reading

Grace Period for Compliance with New Korean Privacy Law Ended this Spring

By Dan Cooper on July 3, 2012 Posted in Data Security, International

South Korea's new comprehensive privacy law, the Personal Information Protection Act, promulgated on 29 March 2011, is now in effect. The Korean government allowed a grace period for companies to comply with the provisions of the new law and this came to an end on March 31st 2012. In relation to the private sector, the new legislation replaces some aspects of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (ICN Act). Described by privacy commentators as one of the strictest privacy laws in the world, the new legislation reflects the baseline standards of the OECD Privacy Guidelines and the APEC Privacy Framework (2004) to a large extent and also appears to exceed those requirements in several respects. This is an introduction to some of the core provisions of the new legislation:… Continue Reading

Article 29 Working Party Publishes Guidance On Cookie Rule Exemptions

By Dan Cooper on June 14, 2012 Posted in European Union, International

On Tuesday, June 12, the Article 29 Working Party (WP29), a group of European data protection authorities, published an opinion on the exemptions available to the new cookie rules introduced by the revised EU ePrivacy Directive. The opinion provides guidance on the implementation of the available exemptions to the requirement to obtain internet users’ informed … Continue Reading

Consent in EU Data Protection Law

By Dan Cooper on June 5, 2012 Posted in Data Security, European Union, International

I recently published an editorial with the European Privacy Association regarding the concept of “consent” under the EU’s Framework Data Protection Directive that is available here. As the editorial explains, the concept is a fundamental fixture of the EU’s data protection regime featuring in data protection law in a variety of different ways, from “unambiguous” … Continue Reading

EU Watchdog Raises Privacy and Data Protection Concerns About Proposed Treaty To Protect Intellectual Property

By Dan Cooper on May 2, 2012 Posted in European Union, International

Earlier this week the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) adopted an Opinion on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (“ACTA”) between the EU and its Member States, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Mexican States, the Kingdom of Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Singapore, the Swiss Confederation and the USA. The Agreement … Continue Reading

UK Government prepares new legislative proposal to modernise communications data monitoring law

By Dan Cooper on April 13, 2012 Posted in International, United Kingdom

On 1 April, 2012, the UK press reported that the UK Home Office is preparing to propose new legislative reform of the communications data monitoring law, in the Queen’s Speech in May. The press reports, and the response from the Home Office on 3 April 2012, provided some further details on a programme that was … Continue Reading

The Philippines and Singapore Move Towards New Data Protection Regimes

By Dan Cooper on March 23, 2012 Posted in International

On March 20, 2012, the Philippines Senate unanimously passed the Data Privacy Act of 2011 (“the Act”) on its third and final reading. According to one of its sponsors, Senator Edgardo Angara, the Act is heavily based on the current EU Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) and meets the standards of the Asia Pacific Economic … Continue Reading

UK ICO Issues Updated Guidance on the Rules on Use of Cookies and Similar Technologies

By Dan Cooper on December 22, 2011 Posted in European Union, United Kingdom

On December 13, 2011, the UK data protection authority (the “ICO”) issued updated guidance on the new cookie rules (Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011) implemented as part of the review of the EU e-Privacy Directive. The guidance is intended to help website operators and those using cookies understand how the rules … Continue Reading

House of Lords Calls for a Privacy Commissioner

By Dan Cooper on November 29, 2011 Posted in United Kingdom

An amendment to a discussion tabled in the House of Lords relating to the Protection of Freedoms Bill 2010 – 2011 has called for the creation of a dedicated Privacy Commissioner. The proposed establishment of a single Privacy Commissioner seeks to correct the existing proliferation of UK commissioners with strictly circumscribed powers and create an … Continue Reading

Hungary Enacts New Privacy Legislation

By Dan Cooper on September 6, 2011 Posted in International

By Dan Cooper and Helena Marttila On 11th of July, 2011, Hungary adopted a new data privacy law (Act CXII of 2011 on Informational Self-Determination and Freedom of Information) (the “Act”), which will enter into force on 1 January 2012. The main changes brought about by the Act are briefly discussed below:… Continue Reading

Article 29 Working Party Voices Concerns Over Behavioural Advertising Code

By Dan Cooper on September 6, 2011 Posted in European Union

By Dan Cooper and Helena Marttila On 26 August, 2011, the Article 29 Working Party, a group of European data protection authorities, published a letter to the Online Behavioural Advertising Industry regarding the proposed industry self-regulatory framework, known as the Best Practice Recommendation on Online Behavioural Advertising (the “Code”). The letter sets out the main … Continue Reading

Indian Government Clarifies New Privacy Rules: Outsourcing Arrangements Exempted

By Dan Cooper on August 26, 2011 Posted in India, International

By Dan Cooper and Helena Marttila On 24th of August 2011, the Government of India’s Ministry of Communications & Information Technology finally issued clarification on the application of the 2011 Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules (the “Rules”). As we blogged here, much ambiguity has surrounded the … Continue Reading

South Korea Plans to End “Real Name” Web Requirements

By Dan Cooper on August 12, 2011 Posted in International

The South Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security reiterated support this week for its plans to abolish legislation that requires Internet users on social networks to use their real names on websites. Currently, the law requires websites with more than 100,000 visitors per day to require users to register with their real names. In … Continue Reading