This week’s Privacy Tracker weekly legislative roundup includes a report on Qatar’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology’s plans to introduce a digital privacy law, as well as information on Argentina’s Personal Data Protection Authority’s new rule, which includes guidance on complying with the Personal Data Protection Law. Plus, read about the latest legislative developments in the U.S., including how the passage of the USA FREEDOM Act may impact cross-border data transfers, and in Canada, where the Digital Privacy Act has received Royal Assent. And in the EU, read about when you can expect guidelines on data protection enforcement.
LATEST NEWS
Argentina’s Personal Data Protection Authority has issued Rule No. 18/2015, which includes a set of guidelines for app developers to improve compliance with the country’s Personal Data Protection Law, Lexology reports.
The European Commission and EU data protection authorities “will develop ‘very precise and concrete guidelines’ to explain how elements of planned new data protection laws should be interpreted, including on enforcement,” Out-Law.com reports.
Irish Examiner reports the country’s justice and data protection ministers are being asked to change data protection laws to help police tackle shoplifting crimes.
Ireland’s Vetting Act, which aims to protect children, “has been stalled for amendments to ensure it does not breach privacy rights,” Irish Examiner reports.
Kuwait Minister of Justice Yaqoub Al-Sane has said that a cybercrime prevention law that was recently endorsed by Parliament “would provide legal protection and guarantee privacy specially regarding bank accounts and online payment,” MENAFN reports.
Paraguay has rejected a proposed data retention law, InfoJustice reports.
Qatar’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is planning to issue a digital privacy law by the beginning of next year to include “general rules regarding the protection of personal information of Internet users,” MENAFN reports.
In the U.S., Ars Technica reports on the Cox Internet piracy case as the sides “squared off in Virginia federal court on Friday to resolve some hot issues about who's getting what information”—including requests from dozens of users that their personal information not be released. Cox has said it is “barred by the Cable Privacy Act from producing … subscribers' personal information,” the report states.
Inside Counsel reports on guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on privacy and data breach disclosures.
JD Supra examines the recently proposed Do Not Track Kids Act and its proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
The Delaware General Assembly has passed the four bills on its Office of the Attorney General’s Internet privacy and safety agenda.
New York has passed a campus sexual assault law requiring “institutions adopt specific language in their policies”—including “provisions regarding privacy and confidentiality,” The National Law Review reports.
A New York private investigator “who illegally rummaged through the emailsof dozens of people,” has been sentenced to three months in jail, The New York Times reports.
The Register-Guard reports on a measure cleared by the Oregon Senate lawmakers “making it a felony to secretly record someone while they are nude and in a private area.”
Legal Tech News reports on privacy software company Disconnect’s lawsuitover its removal from Android’s marketplace.
ICYMI
The enactment of the USA FREEDOM Act has made headlines in the U.S. and beyond, and in this post for Privacy Tracker, the Hogan Lovells Privacy Team explains that "the impact that the surveillance reform legislation may have on cross-border data transfers could turn out to be newsworthy as well."
This post for Privacy Perspectives looks into the recent developments and into the fight against “revenge porn,” including the announcement of federal legislation, and includes provided comments from University of Miami School of Law Prof. Mary Anne Franks.
Canada’s Digital Privacy Act, or Bill S-4, received Royal Assent on June 18, with some amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) going into force immediately. In this post for Privacy Tracker, Timothy Banks, CIPP/C, writes about these “first major amendments to PIPEDA since it was enacted 15 years ago.” The IAPP will offer a web conference on the Digital Privacy Act on July 23.
The French National Digital Council has released a report containing 70 proposals for the future of the digital economy in France and Europe. Olivier Proust, CIPP/E, analyzes the report's key proposals in this post for Privacy Tracker.
Advocate-General Pedro Cruz Villalón has given his opinion in Weltimmo to the Court of Justice of the EU. Villalón's focus on fixed human and technical resources in determining establishment may be significant, Denis Kelleher writes for The Privacy Advisor.
The Hungarian Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information issued guidance for the legislature and users on the data privacy aspects of the nonmilitary use of drones, Márton Domokos writes in this report for The Privacy Advisor.
GLOBAL
Experian Data Breach Resolution has released a whitepaper on the current state of legislation that shapes how companies must prepare for and respond to data breaches.
U.S.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a Los Angeles city ordinance requiring hotel operators to show a list of registered guests to the policeon demand, Politico reports.
Google and Viacom are urging courts to reject attempts to revive a previously dismissed suit that claims Nick.com violated privacy laws and used information gleaned from the site to track users under the age of 13, MediaPost reports.
Business groups believe updates to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) have "overstepped," Katy on the Hill reports.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed an amendment to its rules under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to allow auto dealers that finance car purchases or provide car leases to provide online updates to consumers about their privacy policies as opposed to sending yearly updates by mail, according to an FTC press release.
Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) wants to know how many lawmakers it takes for his strongly supported bill, the Email Privacy Act—which would update the decades-old Electronic Communications Privacy Act—to become a law, NationalJournal reports.
A jury has ruled that Georgia-based Atlas Logistics must pay two employees a combined $2.2 million for forcing them to submit to a cheek swab to determine if their DNA was a match to feces being left throughout the warehouse facility, Ars Technica reports.
ASIA-PACIFIC
The Age reports on cybersecurity firm FireEye's comments that Australia’s government "needs to introduce mandatory data breach disclosure laws sooner rather than later after more than 30,000 iiNet customers had their passwords hacked."
In a piece recently published by TheInternational Journal of Law and Information Technology,Macquarie Law School Prof. Niloufer Selvadurai writes that a lack of regulation in Australia for consumer use of facial-recognition technologyis troubling and needs to be remedied, Phys Org reports.
India’s Communications and Information Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry are working together to create "a new regulatory framework for lawful interception and monitoring of telephone calls and messages while safeguarding the privacy of users," Gadgets reports.
CANADA
A Supreme Court judge has upheld aBC Court of Appeal ruling in favor of Facebookin a 2014 case that had alleged Facebook used member information "to endorse certain products without their consent," Digital Journal reports.
Edmonton Journal reports the Alberta government has initiated its review of the province's Personal Information Protection Act.
EU
The three major institutions charged with creating the next generation of EU data protection law began discussion last week in the first of a series of trilogue meetings to finalize the proposed General Data Protection Regulation.