On September 16, 2020, the Spanish Supervisory Authority (“AEPD”) approved a “Code of Conduct for Data Processing in Advertising” (“Code”) (see the decision approving the code here). This is the first GDPR approved Code of Conduct with an accredited monitoring body in the European Union. The Code enters into effect on November 17, 2020, two … Continue Reading
On 11 November 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) issued two draft recommendations relating to the rules on how organizations may lawfully transfer personal data from the EU to countries outside the EU (“third countries”). These draft recommendations, which are non-final and open for public consultation until 30 November 2020, follow the EU Court … Continue Reading
Voters in California approved Proposition 24, which updates the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) just a few months after the landmark regulations implementing the privacy law went into effect. As we have previously explained, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) will change the existing CCPA requirements in a number of ways, including limiting the sharing … Continue Reading
On September 30, 2020, the French Court of Cassation (“Court”) ruled in favor of an employer that dismissed an employee because of the contents of a Facebook post (the decision is available here, in French). In particular, the employee in this case posted a photograph of a new clothing collection of the employer on a … Continue Reading
On October 9, 2020, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) issued guidance on the use of facial recognition technology for identity checks at airports (available here, in French). The CNIL indicates that it has issued this guidance in response to a request from several operators and service providers of airports in France who are planning to … Continue Reading
On Monday, the California Attorney General (“AG”) proposed a third set of modifications to the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) regulations. Interested parties have until October 28 to file comments in response. These proposed modifications are the latest effort in an extensive rulemaking process that has lasted more than a year. Most recently, … Continue Reading
On September 7, 2020, the German data protection supervisory authority for Baden-Wuerttemberg (“DPA-BW”) released new guidelines following the Schrems II judgment on how companies should transfer data to third countries. For a more in-depth summary of the CJEU’s Schrems II decision, please see our previous blog post here and our audiocast episode here.… Continue Reading
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on a proposal to review and potentially revise a number of existing exemptions that the FCC has adopted with respect to certain Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requirements. The FCC’s review could end up narrowing or eliminating some of … Continue Reading
On October 1, 2020, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) published the final version of its Guidelines on cookies and other tracking technologies (hereafter, “guidelines” – see announcement here, and guidelines here, in French), as well as an adjoining set of best practice recommendations (in French) with examples on how to implement the guidelines. In this … Continue Reading
On October 1, 2020, the Hamburg Data Protection Authority (“Hamburg DPA”) fined H&M, the Swedish clothing company, over €35 million for illegally surveilling employees at its service center in Nuremberg. This fine is the largest financial penalty issued by a German DPA to date for a violation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), … Continue Reading
On September 22, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) hosted “Data to Go,” a virtual workshop on data portability. The workshop convened experts from civil society, academia, and industry to discuss the potential risks as well as consumer and competition benefits of data portability, as well as issues and best practices related to its implementation … Continue Reading
On 7 September 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted draft guidelines on the targeting of social media users (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines aim to clarify the roles and responsibilities of social media providers and “targeters” with regard to the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeting social media users.… Continue Reading
On our fourth episode of our Inside Privacy Audiocast, we are aiming our looking glass at the California Privacy Rights Act, and are joined by guest speaker Jacob Snow, Technology and Civil Liberties Attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. In September 2019, Alastair Mactaggart, Board Chair and Founder of Californians for … Continue Reading
On 10 September 2020, the European Commission proposed an interim regulation designed to enable online communications service providers to combat child sexual abuse online. Once in force, this regulation will provide a legal basis for providers to voluntarily scan communications or traffic data on their services for the limited purpose of detecting child sexual abuse … Continue Reading
On September 8, 2020, the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority (“Swiss SA”) issued a position paper stating that Swiss companies can no longer rely on the Swiss-US Privacy Shield Framework to transfer data to the US. The Swiss SA did not revoke the Swiss-US Privacy Shield Framework because it does not have the power to do … Continue Reading
On 16 July, 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”), issued its decision in the Schrems II case. In short, the CJEU invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and clarified that the use of standard contractual clauses (“SCCs”) requires data controllers to conduct a case-by-case assessment of the level of data protection that SCCs … Continue Reading
The California legislature has approved a contingency plan to ensure that certain California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) exemptions will be extended beyond December 2020. Regardless of what happens with the November ballot initiative, businesses will have at least another year before they must comply with all of the CCPA’s provisions when collecting or using certain … Continue Reading
On August 26, 2020, the Brazilian Senate rejected an alteration made to Article 4 of Provisional Measure 959/20 — an alteration intended to postpone the effective date of the General Data Protection Law (“LGPD”) until December 31, 2020. Following the removal of Article 4 — and many months of uncertainty — the LGPD’s effective date … Continue Reading
On our third episode of our Inside Privacy Audiocast, we are aiming our looking glass at Brazil’s new data protection statute, Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (or LGPD), and are joined by Ronaldo Lemos, a partner at Rennó Penteado. In our episode recorded earlier this week, Dan Cooper and Ronaldo discuss the LGPD, which … Continue Reading
Two developments in the past week will likely have a significant impact on businesses subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”): the long-awaited CCPA regulations have been finalized and put into immediate effect with modifications, while at the same time it seems increasingly likely that the exemptions for employees’ and business-to-business contacts’ data will … Continue Reading
On July 30, 2020, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published its final guidance on Artificial Intelligence (the “Guidance”). The Guidance sets out a framework for auditing AI systems for compliance with data protection obligations under the GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act 2018. The Guidance builds on the ICO’s earlier commitment to enable … Continue Reading
Today, the California Senate Judiciary Committee will consider AB 1281, which would extend the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) business-to-business and employment exemptions until January 1, 2022, in the event that the pending ballot initiative—which also would extend the exemptions—does not pass this November. In addition, the Committee will consider two contact tracing measures, AB … Continue Reading
On the second episode of our Inside Privacy Audiocast, we are aiming our looking glass at Russia, and are joined for our discussion by Partner Maria Ostashenko and Senior Associate Anastasia Petrova of the Data Protection and Cybersecurity practice at the Alrud law firm in Moscow. The pair discuss Russia’s data protection framework, zooming in … Continue Reading
The Court of Justice of the European Union’s recent decision in the “Schrems II’ case was one of the most highly anticipated decisions in the world of data privacy, striking down the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, but upholding the validity of standard contractual clauses. Tune in to the first episode of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast, where … Continue Reading
