US PRIVACY

Jonathan Armstrong, Gayle McFarlane, and André Bywater, European Commission Issues Post-Schrems Communication on EU-US Data Transfers

Date 11/19/2015.

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 […]

FTC and European DPAs discuss ways to improve privacy protection at the 2015 Amsterdam Privacy Conference

Date 11/13/2015.

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 […]

Senate passes bill that would encourage companies to share with Gov’t cyber threats indicators but could compromise privacy

Date 11/13/2015.

On October 27, 2015, the Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S. 754), “CISA”. The bill addresses internet data breaches and cybersecurity. It does not “contain any provisions that would directly improve computer or network security. Instead it would encourage private entities to share information with the federal government about possible threats to industrial […]

Apple’s customers protected from mass surveillance?

Date 11/10/2015.

On October 19, 2015, Apple reiterated that it is technically impossible for them to respond to government’s request for customers data. The US Eastern District Court of New York asked Apple whether the assistance the government seeks from Apple to investigate consumers’ electronic devices is technically feasible and, if so, whether compliance with the proposed order would […]

Safe Harbour 2.0 within reach?

Date 11/03/2015.

On October 29, 2015, Reuters reported that according to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, “Safe Harbor 2.0” is very near to be a reality. On the European side, on October 26, 2015, Vera Jourova, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, reiterated that “it is crucial to conclude the discussions with our […]

German DPAs announce they wouldn’t authorize data transfers to US based on binding corporate rules or data transfer agreements

Date 11/03/2015.

After the recent decision by the ECJ which gave back to the EU data protection authorities the right to examine whether data transfers violate EU privacy rules despite compliance with Safe Harbor, which was in fact abolished, the  WP29 offered some practical suggestions to businesses reminding that “Standard Contractual Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules can still be used” for […]

U.S. has the strongest cybersecurity in the world, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI)

Date 06/16/2015.

On May 28, 2015, ABI Research and the International Telecommunication Union issued a Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) report according to which the U.S. has the strongest cybersecurity in the world. The CGI aims at providing a worldwide snapshot of where countries stand on cybersecurity. It drafts a country-level index and a global ranking on cybersecurity […]

Laura Donohue, High Technology, Consumer Privacy, and U.S. National Security

Date 05/29/2015.

4 Am. U. Bus. L. Rev. 11-48 (2015)   Abstract: “Documents released over the past year detailing the National Security Agency’s (“NSA”) telephony metadata collection program and interception of international content under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) implicated U.S. high technology companies in government surveillance. The result was an immediate, and detrimental, impact on […]

Court order compelling production of third-party telephone company’s business records, pursuant to Stored Communications Act does not violate the Fourth Amendment, a federal court holds

Date 05/21/2015.

On May 5, 2015, an en banc Eleventh Circuit held that a court order compelling the production of a third-party telephone company’s business records (specifically: phone calls and cell tower location) pursuant to the Stored Communications Act, id. § 2703(d), does not violate the Fourth Amendment and is not unconstitutional. Courts in several states, such […]