Global News Roundup—Feb. 16 - 22, 2016

In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, catch up on the latest happenings surrounding the potential new data-transfer mechanism between the U.S. and EU, including the Article 29 Working Party’s response and the next legal hurdles for the Privacy Shield. Also read about a draft decree in Brazil aiming to regulate the Marc Civil and a bill from the French government that would implement many of the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation in France by the end of the year. In the U.S., student privacy is getting more attention in California and Oregon; smart-meter privacy is being debated in Pennsylvania; Kentucky is looking at drone privacy; and the FTC has settled with LeapLab for $5.7 million.

LATEST NEWS

A group of California state Assembly members are working on a bill to protect student data after a federal court decided schools must turn over the records of millions of students to a non-profit group, reports KFBK.

Kentucky lawmakers are debating bills addressing drone privacy, among other drone-related concerns, reports WLKY.

The Oregon Senate unanimously passed a bill to protect the medical records of college students, reports The Lund Report.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Mike Reese, R-Mount Pleasant, has sponsored a bill that would limit access to smart meter without customer consent, reports Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Tennessee state Rep. Andy Holt, R-District 76, has introduced a bill to outlaw public schools and universities from inquiring about firearm ownership, reports The Chattanoogan.

ICYMI

Renato Monteiro writes for Privacy Tracker about the draft decree circulated by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice that will regulate certain aspects of the Marco Civil da Internet including net neutrality and security procedures for data held by Internet connection and application providers.

Olivier Proust, CIPP/E, writes for Privacy Tracker that the French government has introduced a Digital Republic Bill that would amend the country's Data Protection Act and the Consumers Code, and establish several of the provisions found in the EU General Data Protection Regulation by the end of the year.

In this eighth of a 10-part series, IAPP Westin Fellow Gabriel Maldoff, CIPP/US, examines a new concept in European data protection law, "pseudonymization."

In this exclusive for The Privacy Advisor, Denis Kelleher, CIPP/E, outlines the four legal hurdles the Privacy Shield faces now, including scrutiny from the Article 29 Working Party and Article 31 Working Party.

In responding to the announcement of the new EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the Article 29 Working Party "enunciated 'four essential guarantees,' derived from 'jurisprudence,' that it is using to assess the protections provided to ensure intelligence surveillance respects fundamental rights," Cameron Kerry and Maarten Meulenbelt write for Privacy Tracker.

The Article 29 Working Party shared its preliminary assessment of the proposed EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement, reports Jedidiah Bracy, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, for The Privacy Advisor.

Courtney Gabrielson, CIPM, reports on the key takeaways from the recent IAPP web conference, "VPPA: The Current State of Play."

U.S.

LeapLab and its affiliates have settled with the Federal Trade Commission on an illegal data-sharing case for $5.7 million, the agency announced in a statement.

The Department of Homeland Security published interim guidelines that illustrate how the agency will collect data under the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, The Hill reports.

ASIA PACIFIC

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards believes that New Zealand is falling behind the rest of the world on privacy laws, Stuff.co.nz reports.

CANADA

Last week, lawmakers debated Ontario's Health Information Protection Act, or Bill 119, which aims to enforce a host of privacy issues, among them increasing the maximum fines for privacy missteps and requiring breach reporting, Canadian Underwriter reports.

EU

A legal advisor and members from the European Parliament have expressed doubt about the viability of the so-called Umbrella Agreement between the EU and U.S., EurActiv reports, saying it’s, "not compatible with primary EU law and the respect for fundamental rights."