In this week’s Privacy Tracker weekly roundup, read about changes to Australia’s Privacy Act, going into effect next month, which mean new data breach reporting requirements. Poland’s government has proposed exempting small- and medium-sized businesses from certain provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which has raised concerns for privacy advocates. Bulgaria has taken over the presidency of the Council of the EU and released an outline of its priorities for the ePrivacy Regulation. And in the U.S., states including Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Massachusetts and Virginia, to name a few, are considering strengthening their privacy laws, plus new nominations are in for the Federal Trade Commission and Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
LATEST NEWS
Lexology reports on new data breach reporting obligations in Australia, which go into effect Feb. 22.
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The Florida Constitution Revision Commission has approved a change in the wording of the state Constitution that would limit privacy rights in an effort to allow the state to impose “reasonable regulations” on abortion procedures, reports The Gainesville Sun.
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Iowa’s attorney general has introduced a bill amending the state’s current breach notification law to impose a 45-day deadline on businesses to report a data breach and an increased encryption requirement for exemptions to the law, reports The Gazette.
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A bill in front of the Massachusetts state Senate would require police to obtain a warrant in order to access data from the electronic tolling system, reports MassLive.
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South Dakota’s legislature is considering repealing Marsy’s Law, which includes a right to privacy for victims of crime, reports KOTA News.
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JD Supra reports that Virginia General Assembly has on its schedule several bills with privacy implications, including bills addressing net neutrality, ID theft, breach reporting, drone use and more.
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The West Virginia House has approved a bill limiting drone use, making it a misdemeanor for knowingly taking pictures or video of individuals on private property without consent, reports The Washington Times.
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ICYMI
Jennifer Baker reports for The Privacy Advisor on the contents of a paper from the new Council of the EU presidency, outlining its priorities for the ePrivacy Regulation and the sticky points to getting consensus moving forward.
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David Meyer writes for The Privacy Advisor about reaction to the Polish government’s proposed exemption for small- and medium-sized businesses from having to comply with key requirements of the incoming General Data Protection Regulation.
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The European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers has published a notice to stakeholders on the intersection of Brexit and EU data protection rules. In The Privacy Advisor, Olivia Manning, CIPP/US, CIPM, looks at what the guidance may mean for U.K. BCRs.
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At a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Wednesday, lawmakers questioned President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the long-dormant Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Adam Klein. Angelique Carson, CIPP/US, has the story.
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US
U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson to the Federal Trade Commission, Reuters reports.
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Colorado lawmakers have introduced legislation that would change how personally identifiable information is protected, transferred, secured and disposed of under state law, the National Law Review reports.
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South Dakota’s Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill requiring companies to inform residents when their personal information is involved in a data breach, the Associated Press reports.
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ASIA PACIFIC
South Korea’s data protection regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, fined eight cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet services for various privacy violations, Fortune reports.
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CANADA
Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish released a statement on Data Privacy Day, calling for the province to modernize its privacy laws and ensure public institutions are gathering data properly.
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EUROPE
The Court of Justice of the European Union has dismissed Max Schrems’ class-action lawsuit against Facebook, but the privacy activist will still be able to pursue the case, USA Today reports.
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