Global News Roundup—July 21-28, 2014

With U.S. President Barack Obama announcing plans to issue an executive order on privacy related to commercial drone usage and reports that a bill to curtail NSA surveillance is close to passage, privacy advocates in the U.S. may have reason to hope that the recent Supreme Court ruling over cell-phone privacy may have broader implications. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring Russians’ personal information to be stored on servers within the country; EU officials are dissatisfied with Google’s response to the Court of Justice’s right-to-be-forgotten ruling, and Bills C-13 and S-4 are still drawing headlines in Canada. Read this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup for updates on this and more.

LATEST NEWS

Law360 reports the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued twin rulings stating police had the authority to track suspects through their cell phones, in one case absent a warrant, rejecting claims that the searches violated their rights under the Fourth Amendment. (Registration may be required to access this story.)

The Hill reports on the legal challenges surrounding online accounts after their owners’ death. Estate lawyers and some tech industry representatives say changes to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act allowing for the release may simplify things.

The New York legislature has passed a revenge porn bill that is now headed to the governor’s desk for signature, reports Rockland County Times.

The Local reports that Sweden’s justice minister announced the appointment of an investigator to produce a report on online slander—particularly revenge porn.

ICYMI

The Hogan Lovells Privacy Team writes for Privacy Tracker that between data localization and long-arm legislation, privacy pros need to be thinking about data provenance.

In this Privacy Tracker post, Timothy Banks of Dentons Canada writes regulators' current approach of searching for the "gatekeepers" of data from wearable technologies seems impractical.  (IAPP member login required.)

U.S.

Jedidiah Bracy, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, reports for The Privacy Advisor  that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing  took several shots at the FTC for going after small businesses under sometimes “erroneous inquisitions” and for not providing businesses with data security best practices.

Los Angeles Times reports a compromise has been reached over a bill to curtail NSA surveillance. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), could pass this month, according to Leahy.

President Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order to construct privacy guidelines for the commercial use of drones operating in U.S. airspace, Politico reports. The order would put the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in charge of the efforts.

Privacy advocates are hoping the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on cell-phone privacy last month will have a broader impact than just that case itself—perhaps even leading to the end of the government’s post-9/11 surveillance of telephone records, USA Today reports.

Reuters reports a federal judge in New York has granted prosecutors access to a Gmail user’s e-mails as part of a criminal probe.

A litany of recent HIPAA-related cases indicates the law is open to misinterpretation and may sometimes provide cover for the health organization involved rather than working in the patient’s best interest, ProPublica reports.  

Profs. Woodrow Hartzog and Daniel Solove have released a paper on the scope and potential of the FTC’s data protection regulatory powers.

CANADA

In a feature for The Toronto Star, Michael Geist writes of last month's Supreme Court decision and the actions several telecoms have taken regarding data retention following that ruling.

The Toronto Star opines, "With giants Rogers and Telus on side, and Bell under pressure to follow, the message should be clear for Ottawa,” suggesting, “The writing is on the wall” for bills C-13 and S-4.

EU

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law requiring Internet companies to store all personal data of Russian citizens on servers in Russia, ZDNet reports.

Hogan Lovells Partner Eduardo Ustaran, CIPP/E, takes a look at what’s changed and the current state of play in the cookie ecosystem in this Privacy Perspectives post, noting DPAs “have realized that a large number of websites are cutting corners” and the fallout that might ensue.

Out-Law.com reports on insights on the draft EU Data Protection Regulation from a UK Information Commissioner's Office spokesperson who said while it is still subject to change, the draft regulation “provides a guarantee for freedom of expression."

Bloomberg reports thatArticle 29 Working Party Chairwoman Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin and others are critical of Google’s right-to-be-forgotten response. Google’s decision to remove results only on EU search engines and its decision to notify media organizations when links have been removed are noted in the criticism.

Italian DPA the Garante has issued a prescriptive rule to Google indicating changes Google should make to its data-handling practices in order to ensure compliance with “the applicable law and EU directive.” Rocco Panetta of NCTM Studio Legale Associato writes for The Privacy Advisor, “This is the first measure of this kind in Europe, and it is a result of a coordinated action with other European DPAs and follows the judgment of the European Court of Justice on the right to be forgotten.”