In a new post on the Covington Digital Health blog, our colleagues discuss a new European Cloud in Health Advisory Council whitepaper calling for a review of European healthcare data protection rules holding back greater adoption of cloud computing and AI; and for more discussion about the ethics and governance of re-use of patient data for research and planning. To read … Continue Reading
On Thursday, April 20th, the UK government launched a “Call for Views” regarding the UK’s options for the implementation of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) at national level. The consultation deadline is May 10th, at mid-day UK time. Although the GDPR was an effort to bring greater harmonization to data protection regimes … Continue Reading
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which enforces data protection legislation in the UK, has fined a company £20,000 (approximately 24,000 USD / 23,000 EUR) for not exercising sufficient due diligence when buying and using marketing databases. The ICO found that over 580,000 individuals’ contact details had been obtained by The Data Supply Company Ltd … Continue Reading
On March 9, 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) handed down a ruling limiting the reach of its prior “right to be forgotten” jurisprudence, by holding that the right does not prevail over society’s interest in access to official public records of company details required by law.… Continue Reading
By Dan Cooper and Rosie Klement On March 2, 2017, the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) released draft guidance for UK organizations on how the notion of consent will be interpreted and applied when the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) comes into force in May 2018. The ICO is currently engaging in a public consultation on … Continue Reading
On January 12, 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced the adoption of a Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield, to replace the existing Swiss-U.S. Safe Harbor Agreement. Companies have a three month grace period to switch from the old to the new regime. The Swiss version of the Privacy Shield had to be negotiated following the invalidation … Continue Reading
On December 21, 2016 the Court of Justice of European Union (“CJEU”) issued its judgment in Joined Cases C-203/15 and C-698/15, Tele2 /Watson. The decision considered the legality of UK and Swedish laws permitting the generalized retention of communications metadata (for 6-12 months) for the purposes of prevention, detection or prosecution of crime (not necessarily … Continue Reading
The Article 29 Working Party (“WP29”) – the representatives of national data protection regulators in the EU – has issued new guidance on three important aspects of the new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which comes into force in May 2018. This first salvo of GDPR-focused guidance concerns: the new “Right to Data Portability”, an … Continue Reading
On August 31, 2016, a bill was presented to the Luxembourg Parliament (the “Bill”) to amend the Law of August 2, 2002, on the Protection of Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data. The Bill aims to reduce the current administrative burden and anticipates the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) … Continue Reading
On October 11, 2016, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 7 (G-7) countries announced the publication of the Fundamental Elements of Cybersecurity for the Financial Sector, a non-binding guidance document for financial sector entities. The publication describes eight fundamental “elements” of effective cybersecurity risk management to guide public and private … Continue Reading
A new post on the Covington eHealth blog reports that the UK government is running a consultation around NHS patient data security standards and a new legal framework for secondary uses (e.g. research) of patient data. To find out more about the proposals and the consultation, please click here.… Continue Reading
On June 16, 2016, the French data protection authority (“CNIL”) launched a public consultation on the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR). The consultation focuses on four priority themes set out in the Article 29 Working Party’s 2016 Action plan: the data protection officer; the right to data portability; data protection impact assessments; and certification.… Continue Reading
On May 12, 2016, The French High Court (“Cour de Cassation”) rendered a short decision stating that the right to be forgotten does not supersede the freedom of press. In this case, two brothers took legal action against a famous French daily newspaper. The two individuals requested that their respective names be removed from search results … Continue Reading
The EU Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive now looks likely to enter into force in August of this year. Member States will then have 21 months to implement it into national law before the new security and incident notification obligations will start to apply to the following entities: designated* “operators of essential services” within … Continue Reading
On May 12, 2016, EU Advocate General (“AG”) Manuel Campus Sanchez-Bordona issued an Opinion in Case C-582/14 Patrick Breyer v Germany, which is pending before the EU’s highest court (the Court of Justice). The Court is not legally bound by this Opinion, but in practice often follows the opinions of its Advocate Generals in its … Continue Reading
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been busy. In addition to its recent efforts to begin audits of covered entities and business associates, OCR has announced a slew of enforcement actions against covered entities for alleged HIPAA violations.… Continue Reading
As forecast in our latest blog on the topic (available here), the European Parliament today voted into law a new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) that will replace the EU’s all-encompassing Data Protection Directive as of mid-2018. Today’s vote brings to a close a legislative process that has lasted nearly five years; the law’s official publication, which should be … Continue Reading
Following the expected approval of the final text of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in the European Parliament this week, the Commission is now turning its attention towards the ePrivacy Directive. On Monday (April 11, 2016), the Commission launched a public consultation to review and propose changes to the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC). (See the Commission’s … Continue Reading
As noted in our post yesterday, the text of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the upcoming trans-Atlantic data-transfer framework between the EU and U.S. to replace the invalidated U.S.-EU Safe Harbor, has been released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Commerce’s release coincided with the release of a draft adequacy decision by the European Commission. A … Continue Reading
Today, a German law to strengthen the private enforcement of certain data protection provisions that aim to protect consumers (the Law) entered in to force, following its publication in the Official Journal yesterday. We previously reported on the draft law here. The Law empowers certain qualified associations to seek injunctive relief against companies or self-employed … Continue Reading
A European Parliament policy department has released a report, entitled Big Data and Smart Devices and Their Impact on Privacy, that criticizes the lack of focus on privacy and data protection in the European Commission’s “Digital Single Market” policy agenda, noting a “conflicting” intersection between the Commission’s Digital Single Market objectives and the EU’s efforts, … Continue Reading
A second round of “trilogue” negotiation on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), on July 14th, has addressed the law’s territorial scope and rules relating to international data transfers (Articles 3 and Chapter 5, respectively). Although no agreed text has been released, public comments made by Jan Philipp Albrecht, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator … Continue Reading
The U.S. and EU’s negotiators on the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor data transfer program have missed an end of May target date for reaching an agreement on amendments to the program. They nevertheless publicly reaffirmed their commitment to reaching an agreement on the Safe Harbor program, and on an “Umbrella Agreement” that would protect personal data … Continue Reading
On May 26th, 2015, the Dutch Senate passed a new law (“the Law”) (legislative proposal, as adopted, is accessible here), which introduces an obligation to notify the Dutch DPA ‘without delay’ in case of a data breach. The law also broadens the powers of the Dutch DPA, enabling it to impose significantly higher fines for … Continue Reading
