In this week's Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about the Nepal Law Commission's new draft privacy bill that would establish fines or jail sentencing for privacy violations and why New Zealand's privacy commissioner calls the proposed changes to the country's privacy bill "not sufficient." The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office has taken several actions against various parties, including warning letters, audit notices, and a notice of intent to levy a 500,000 GBP fine against Facebook. In the U.S., while Real Estate Developer Alastair Mactaggart plans to ensure the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 is not weakened before taking effect, opponents are getting ready to push for changes, and Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield called for national privacy legislation.
LATEST NEWS
The Nepal Law Commission has prepared a preliminary draft of a privacy bill that includes options for jail sentencing, fines or both for violating individual’s right to privacy, The Himalayan reports.
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been charged with oversight of the new Consumer Data Right, which will grant individuals control of their data by granting open access to banking, energy, phone, and internet transactions, as well as the right to control who can have it and who can use it, ZDNet reports.
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ICYMI
Despite concerns voiced by the judiciary, the Canadian Bar Association, the Federation of Law Societies, and the former information commissioner, Canada's Liberal government is moving forward with Bill C-58, which "provides new powers for the information commissioner under the Access to Information Act and for the Privacy Commissioner under the Privacy Act to review privileged communications as part of determining whether a claim of privilege by a government institution is legitimate." Timothy Banks, CIPP/C, CIPM, CIPT, writes about the bill for Privacy Tracker.
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Following an investigation launched in 2017 over the use of political campaigns' use of data, the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office has taken several actions against various parties, including warning letters, audit notices, and a notice of intent to levy a 500,000 GBP fine against Facebook. Angelique Carson, CIPP/US, has the story for The Privacy Advisor.
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The Vermont state legislature has enacted a law to provide consumers with more information about data brokers and their practices. University of Maine School of Law Student and IAPP Extern Hawah Ahmad, CIPP/E, writes about the new law in this Privacy Tracker post.
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US
Bloomberg BNA reports on the privacy track record of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
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The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology debated on the best way to protect consumer privacy while safeguarding the Customer Proprietary Network Information, Multichannel News reports.
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Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield called for national privacy legislation following the passing of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, Bloomberg reports.
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Real Estate Developer Alastair Mactaggart plans to continue working to ensure the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 is not weakened before it goes into effect in 2020, Bloomberg reports. Mactaggart said he is considering assembling a group of engineers and technical professionals to help California’s attorney general put the law into effect.
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Following the passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, opponents of the law are getting ready to push for changes to the rule, MediaPost reports.
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The Daily Beast reports that proposals in Ohio and Delaware that effectively work to out transgender students to their parents place student privacy and mental health in jeopardy.
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A Pennsylvania federal court sided with Main Line Health in a case where an employee was fired for a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violation, HealthITSecurity reports.
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Reuters reports Hearst Communications reached a $50 million settlement in a case in which it was accused of violating the Michigan Video Rental Privacy Act.
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ASIA-PACIFIC
In an attempt to make the overhaul of New Zealand’s privacy law more robust, Privacy Commissioner John Edwards told a select committee that the proposed changes were “not sufficient,” Stuff reports.
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CANADA
At this year's IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien offered up a new framework for consent and called for more robust privacy law in general, including new powers for his office. As a follow-up, University of Ottawa Law Professor Michael Geist outlined what a PIPEDA 2.0 might look like.
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EUROPE
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled religious communities are considered data controllers when they collect information in the process of door-to-door preaching.
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Civil Liberties MEPs approved a deal that will strengthen data protection in EU institutions, bodies and agencies by ensuring a strong framework for data processing.
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Ahead of a meeting next week, the current presidency of the Council of the European Union has issued revised text of the proposed ePrivacy Regulation. The council's telecommunications committee, known as WP TELE, is set to convene July 17 to discuss ePR. The latest draft revises text in Articles 6, 8 and 10 and related recitals.
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Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled that Facebook accounts can be inherited, giving heirs the right to access the Facebook accounts of deceased relatives, Reuters reports.
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The U.K. government has released a white paper asking the European Union for an “association agreement” following Brexit, Politico reports.
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MIDDLE EAST
An English translation of Israel’s Privacy Protection Regulations (Data Security), 5777-2017 is now available in the IAPP Resource Center.
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