Global News Roundup — February 6 - 13, 2017

In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about Australia’s new breach notification law and the committee report on re-identification criminalization efforts, Rwanda’s new ICT law, new guidance from Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission and Argentina’s new draft data protection law. In the U.S., the House has passed the Email Privacy Act; Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., has introduced a bill reforming the REAL ID Act to address privacy concerns; New Jersey has codified the role of state chief data officer; and New Mexico’s Senate Committee passed the Electronic Data Privacy Act requiring a warrant for accessing electronic communications and using stingray devices. 

LATEST NEWS

After years of attempts, Australia’s legislature voted to pass the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016, creating a mandatory data breach reporting scheme, reports IT News.
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Hungary’s National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has published guidelines on the requirements of data processing in the workplace, reports JDSupra.
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Rwanda has passed an information and communications technologies law with privacy provisions requiring all electronic communications be kept confidential to the sender and intended receiver, reports The New Times.
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Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission has recently updated its advisory guidelines to help companies comply with the Personal Data Protection Act, reports Global Compliance News.
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The Washington Examiner reports that U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., has introduced a bill reforming the REAL ID Act to include privacy protections such as eliminating document archiving and to allowing states to decide opt out linking their databases nationwide.
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has signed legislation making data transparency a requirement for all state agencies and codifying the chief data officer position into state law, reports Government Technology.
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A New Mexico Senate Committee passed the Electronic Data Privacy Act, which would require police to obtain a warrant prior to the of stingrays and for accessing electronic communications from service providers, reports The Tenther.
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The Seattle Times reports, Washington state legislators are working on efforts to keep state held data from being shared with the federal government for immigration enforcement or the creation of a Muslim registry.
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ICYMI

This month, the Argentina Data Protection Agency (Dirección Nacional de Protección de Datos Personales or “DNPDP”) posted online a draft bill for a new data protection act, Pablo Palazzi analyzes the major proposed changes in this piece for Privacy Tracker.
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US

The U.S. House of Representatives has once again passed the Email Privacy Act, and now the legislation makes its way to the Senate where it’s expected to continue facing resistance, Reuters reports.
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The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is not responsible for protecting employee data, SC Media reports.
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Following conflicting rulings in cases involving Google and Microsoft, Ars Technica reports cases involving law enforcement access to emails stored on servers outside the U.S. may continue to bounce back and forth until the U.S. Supreme Court makes an ultimate ruling.
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Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen named Arnall Golden Gregory LLP Partner Thomas Pahl the acting director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
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A three-judge panel ruled New Jersey police officers can examine a suspect’s private social media messages without applying for an order under the state’s wiretapping laws, NJ.com reports.
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ASIA PACIFIC

New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has proposed six recommendations to revamp the country’s Privacy Act, one would allow the privacy commissioner to apply to the High Court for a civil penalty in the event of a data breach.
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Labor and Greens MPs have called the Australian government's proposed Privacy Amendment (Re-identification Offence) Bill 2016 that would criminalize pointing out a poorly de-identified dataset, a "disproportionate response" to the issue, iTnews reports.
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The Andrews government has confirmed it plans to merge the privacy and data protection office with the Freedom of Information Commissioner later this week when Parliament resumes, The Age reports.
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CANADA

The Federal Court of Canada has issued a "landmark ruling that paves the way for a Canadian version of the right to be forgotten that would allow courts to issue orders with the removal of Google search results on a global basis very much in mind," writes Michael Geist in a column for The Globe and Mail.
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EUROPE

The Danish government has unveiled a series of anti-revenge porn proposals including increased penalties for sharing revenge porn, Yahoo News reports.
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