On November 4, 2015, the House of Commons introduced a draft titled “Investigatory Powers Bill”. The Bill would govern the use of investigatory powers by law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies to access UK citizens’ internet data use. Among other provisions, the Bill would oblige service providers to help intercept data if there was a […]
On December 1, 2015, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Bill H.R. 699, introduced in February 2015. The “Email Privacy Act” would reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The Bill would amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 prohibiting, save exceptions, a “provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service […]
Facebook will require Belgian users to create a Facebook account to be able to view its public content. The company was not able to reach an agreement with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (Commissie voor de bescherming von de persoonlijke levensfeer) and it is expecting to receive an order prohibiting the use of cookies to […]
As provided for by the USA Freedom Act, in December 2015, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) designated five amici curiae who will act as outsider public advocates. The five named attorneys are Jonathan G. Cedarbaum, John D. Cline, Laura Donohue, Amy Jeffress, and Marc Zwillinger. The FISC is considered the most secret court. […]
In January 2014, The SC Supreme Court amended the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure (SCRCP) to add the following rule: RULE 41.2 – PRIVACY PROTECTION FOR FILINGS (a) Redaction. A person filing a document in paper or electronic format shall not include, or will redact where inclusion is necessary, the following personal identifying information. (1) Social […]
Working Group 1 of The Sedona Conference announces “the final release of its new Commentary addressing the evolving responsibilities that lawyers, law firms, and other legal service providers have to provide security for their own, their clients’, and third parties’ private and confidential information”. This final version of The Sedona Conference Commentary on Privacy and Information Security: Principles […]
On November 16, 2015, EU Commissioner Věra Jourová spoke in Washington about transatlantic data flow. After highlighting the importance of safeguarding, at the same time, the fundamental right to privacy, security, and economic opportunities and business growth, she remembered the latest developments in this area: (a) negotiation on an “umbrella” agreement on privacy and […]
Introduction Developments following the European Court’s 6 October 2015 Schrems ruling that declared data transfers under Safe Harbor invalid continue apace with the publication of an official 16-page Communication from the European Commission of 6 November. Please refer to our main alert for the background and our comments (including 3 videos) on the Schrems judgment and its consequences along with […]
The vast difference between the views of privacy held in the US and in the EU is illustrated by the divergent paths of two prominent data privacy actions. In the EU, the action was brought by Max Schrems as a complaint before the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, claiming that Facebook’s transfer of user data to […]
On October 23, 2015, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill gave the keynote at the Amsterdam Privacy Conference. According to her talk, the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) recent decision to hold Safe Harbour decision invalid (see here) is an opportunity to improve privacy laws on both sides of the Atlantic. The ECJ decision highlighted “the need to have an […]