In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about the new law in effect in Germany; Canadian Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien’s priorities for the year ahead; and one expert’s opinion that Turkey’s latest draft data protection law is open to abuse. In the U.S., President Barack Obama signed the Judicial Redress Act in order to foster a data sharing agreement with the EU; two bills were introduced in the House proposing new rulemaking authority for the Federal Trade Commission surrounding digital information; bills in both the House and Senate aim to tackle privacy and cybersecurity threats to the power grid; and legislatures in California, Georgia, Iowa, Utah and Wyoming are considering privacy bills.
LATEST NEWS
Hurriyet Daily News reports that according to one policy expert, the new draft of Turkey’s data protection law is a regression from the 2014 draft.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., has introduced two bills targeting digital information privacy and authorizing new rulemaking by the Federal Trade Commission, reports JD Supra.
JCSupra offers an analysis of three bills aiming to provide guidance for data handling and clarify elements of California’s data breach notification statutes.
Georgia state Sen. William T. Ligon, Jr., R-Brunswick, has introduced a bill that would require schools to notify parents and students of the use of online tools and allow parents to opt students out, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Iowa Senate passed a bill expanding the criminal trespass law to instances where offenders capture images of individuals without their knowledge or consent, reports The Gazette.
The Utah House has approved a bill excluding certain school records governed by FERPA from the state open records law, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Industry groups are opposing a Washington state biometric bill that would require consent from data subjects in order to collect or sell biometric data, reports GeekWire.
Casper Star Tribunes reports that the Wyoming House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee is recommending two Senate bills that provide guidance on fiduciaries access to online accounts and profiles after a person dies.
ICYMI
In this final installment of a three-part series for The Privacy Advisor, Tiffany Li, CIPM, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, CIPT and Zhou Zhou delve into the cultural and historical factors that influence the development and application of Chinese privacy law, as well as offer practical lessons and hypothetical case studies for how to proactively help your company or organization succeed in China.
In the ninth episode of The Privacy Advisor's series on the operational impacts of the General Data Protection Regulation, the IAPP's Director of Research, Rita Heimes, CIPP/US, discusses the GDPR's emphasis on codes and conduct for certifications.
In this Privacy Tracker post, Jared Bomberg and C. Kyle Simpson of Hogan Lovells break down the major privacy and cybersecurity provisions in House and Senate bills aiming to tackle perceived cybersecurity and privacy threats related to the power grid and their prospects for passage.
U.S.
In a step designed to help data-transfer relations with Europe, President Barack Obama has signed the Judicial Redress Act into law, The Associated Press reports.
As the debate surrounding the FBI's case against Apple continues, two U.S. lawmakers have proposed a new multi-stakeholder commission to investigate data security issues, BuzzFeedNews reports.
Both the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Email Privacy Act will get congressional attention this spring, USA Today reports.
CANADA
Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien addressed the Senate and detailed his privacy goals in a keynote posted on the OPC's site.
EUROPE
Germany's new data protection enforcement law went live on Feb. 24, and it could pose "an additional risk" for companies, Norton Rose Fulbright's Christoph Ritzer and Sven Jacobs argue in a Data Protection Report op-ed.