In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about Qatar’s new data protection law; the House of Lords’ reaction to the U.K. Digital Economy Bill and Theresa May’s announcement on Brexit; a new patient data sharing agreement between Estonia and Finland; and new guidelines for workplace data processing in Hungary. In the U.S., the Email Privacy Act is back in front of Congress, the Department of Homeland Security has proposed new rules for contractors and subcontractors, plus Montana, Nebraska and New York, among others, are considering privacy laws dealing with drones, mobile data and more. 

LATEST NEWS

The Huffington Post reports that Estonia and Finland have entered into a patient data sharing agreement.
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Hungary’s Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has issued guidelines on the general requirements of workplace data processing, reports Lexology.
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Qatar has a new data protection law introducing new requirements for the handling of employee data among other provisions. Clyde & Co offers an overview of the law.
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Computer Weekly reports that a House of Lords committee has voiced strong concern about the U.K. Digital Economy Bill.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed three new rules expanding privacy and security requirements for contractors and subcontractors, reports The National Law Review.
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The Recorder offers an overview of what to expect in privacy legislation out of California in the coming year.
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During a Montana House Judiciary Committee meeting, the state Department of Justice opposed three bills requiring affecting law enforcement access to mobile devices and the use of license-plate scanners, reports the Missoulian.
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Montana’s House Judiciary Committee also discussed a revenge porn bill last week, reports Belgrade News.
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Nebraska’s Judiciary Committee is considering whether to institute a privacy act for automated license plate recognition systems, reports WOWT.
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A New Hampshire House committee is considering a bill to limit public and private use of drones, reports WMUR.
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New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell has introduced a bill that would seal information about youthful offenders until the final disposition in their case, reports New York Nonprofit Media.
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A New York bill in front of the Assembly would require law enforcement to get a warrant in order to access mobile device data and help stop the use of stingray devices, reports The Tenther.
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New York is also considering limiting the warrantless use of drones, reports The Tenther.
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ICYMI

U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., has reintroduced the Email Privacy Act, which aims to amend the Electronic Communications Protection Act. Former Westin Fellow Anna Meyers, CIPM, CIPP/US, writes about the bill, its complicated past and potential future in this Privacy Tracker post.
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Marco Saias of PRA - Raposo, Sá Miranda & Associados writes for Privacy Tracker that despite concerns voiced by the data protection authority, Portugal's government intends to present to the Parliament a plan for a national cancer registry.
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US

EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová is confident the Privacy Shield and Umbrella Agreement will continue under U.S. President Donald Trump, EurActiv.com reports.
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President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said he will uphold the Privacy Shield agreement, but alluded to possible changes in the future, Morning Consult reports.
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Perkins Coie's Janis Kestenbaum predicts what to expect from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission under President-elect Donald Trump, in a post for Inside Counsel.
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Modern Healthcare reports the Obama administration has released a final privacy rule making it simpler to share the medical historyof individuals receiving substance abuse treatment in federally funded drug and alcohol programs.
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ASIA PACIFIC

The Federal Court of Australia sided with telecom company Telstra in a case about whether all metadata constitutes personal information, iTnews reports.
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The Queensland government is requesting submissions for its privacy and right to information laws, Lexology reports. The government will accept submissions through 3 Feb.
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With the new year came a new chief executive officer at Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, Tan Kiat How. IAPP APAC Managing Director Rona Morgan, CIPP/A, interviews the new head of the PDPC for The Privacy Advisor.
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Roskomnadzor, the Russian data protection authority, has released its 2017 inspection plans for local companies to measure their compliance with the country's data privacy requirements, Hogan Lovells' Chronicle of Data Protection reports.
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CANADA

Following concerns raised in Canada by Yukon Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod-McKay, the Yukon government has said there will be no centralized database containing the personal information of the territory’s citizens, CBC News reports.
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In an op-ed for rabble.ca, Dennis Gruending points out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party vowed to repeal Bill C-51's "problematic elements," but those alterations have not yet come to fruition.
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EUROPE

In a highly anticipated speech Tuesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her plans for Brexit, saying the U.K. will retain the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, V3 report.
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