The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), which enforces data protection legislation in the UK, has ruled that the NHS Royal Free Foundation Trust (“Royal Free”), which manages a London hospital, failed to comply with the UK Data Protection Act 1998 in providing 1.6 million patient records to Google DeepMind (“DeepMind”), requiring the Royal Free to … Continue Reading
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield’s recent introduction has created an efficient mechanism to ensure that trans-Atlantic personal data flows are lawful. With that in place, attention is now turning back to restrictions within the EU, particularly around hosting data in cloud computing services. European healthcare is particularly affected by such restrictions. This has motivated a significant … Continue Reading
Earlier this week, the Online Trust Alliance released a draft framework of best practices for Internet of Things device manufacturers and developers, such as connected home devices and wearable fitness and health technologies. The OTA is seeking comments on its draft framework by September 14. The framework acknowledges that not all requirements may be applicable … Continue Reading
May 2015 saw a number of developments in the EU mHealth sector worthy of a brief mention. The European Commission announced that it would work on new guidance for mHealth apps, despite the European Data Protection Supervisor and British Standards Institution publishing their own just weeks earlier. In parallel, the French data protection authority announced … Continue Reading
The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (Working Party), an independent EU advisory body on data protection and privacy, responded to a request from the European Commission made in the framework of the Commission’s mHealth initiative to clarify the definition of data concerning health in relation to lifestyle and wellbeing apps. (See more here, and here … Continue Reading
The European Commission has finally published its summary of 211 responses to its mobile health (“mHealth”) consultation. The summary and original responses to the consultation have been made available on the Commission’s website at https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/summary-report-public-consultation-green-paper-mobile-health The consultation covered a broad range of important issues for mHealth, including legal frameworks, privacy and data protection, patient safety, … Continue Reading
