In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about efforts by the Chilean legislature to send a bill to Congress updating the country’s data protection law. In Canada, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has proposed revisions to the Customs Act;British Columbia and Nova Scotia may see changes to their health privacy laws; and Saskatchewan is looking at expanding its Freedom of Information laws to police and legislative offices. The U.S. House rejected a ban on warrantless collection of electronic communications and forced implementation of backdoor encryption; Republicans are doubling down on efforts to expand FBI surveillance capabilities; and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan outlined his national security plan.
LATEST NEWS
Cynthia Rich writes for Morrison & Foerster aboutdevelopments in data privacy law in the Western Hemisphere.
The Saskatchewan government plans to extend privacy laws to members of the legislature, cabinet ministers and police services, among other changes, reports CTV News Regina.
BNA reports that Chile’s legislature has plans to modernize its data protection laws.
New Hampshire governor Maggie Hassan has signed into law a bill allowing the use of license-plate scanners and another to bring the state in line with the REAL ID program, reports TheNewspaper.com.
HealthIT Security reports thatpending data breach legislation in New York would see medical information included in its definition of personal information.
The North Carolina Supreme Court has struck down a cyber-bullying statute, saying it violates the First Amendment, reports The Washington Post.
ICYMI
Tim Van Canneyt writes for Privacy Tracker about the recent opinion from the advocate general on Verein für Konsumenteninformation v. Amazon EU Sàrl.
In the second of a two-part Privacy Perspectives series on frequently asked questions concerning the upcoming requirement for certain companies to employ a data protection officer, Gonca Dhont, CIPM, CIPP/E, discusses whether companies can employ DPOs from in-house or out, the level of independence DPOs should have, where DPOs should be located, and much more.
US
An appellate court has upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules, MediaPost reports.
The House rejected a legislative measure to both ban warrantless government collection of electronic communications and prevent forced implementation of backdoor encryption, USA TODAY reports.
Senate Republicans will redouble efforts to expand the FBI’s warrantless surveillance practices in the wake of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, Bloomberg Politics reports.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s national security plan looks to bring more “balance” between data privacy and national security, according to a BuzzFeed report.
ASIA PACIFIC
The Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore has published a Guide to Handling Access Requests on its official website.
Potential regulations could grant the New South Wales coroner the ability to decide whether the media’s coverage of a victim’s death properly respected their privacy, The Australian reports.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has announced the Chinese government intends to increase privacy regulations as it increases developments for health care data systems, The Register reports.
Regulators from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, among others, are working to strengthen data protection guidelines and the enforcement of privacy rules to combat costly cyberattacks, The Wall Street Journal reports.
CANADA
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has proposed revisions to the Customs Act that would allow the federal government access to the personal data of Canadian travelers leaving the country, CBC News reports.
Proposed amendments to Saskatchewan’s Freedom of Information and privacy laws would require the province’s police force to adhere to FOI requests, Global News reports.
Nova Scotia is examining whether it needs to review its health privacy laws for disclosing mental health issues to a patient’s family, Global News reports.
British Columbia Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham is urging the province to improve its health privacy lawsand increase fines for those who snoop on private medical records, the Times Colonist reports.
The Toronto Sun reports doctors are concerned that a newly passed amendment to the Personal Health Information Protection Act compromises the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship.
EUROPE
The Data Protection Commissioner of Hamburg is reviewing the data protection requirements and use of Google Analyticsby website operators based in Hamburg because of the invalidation of Safe Harbor, De Lege Data reports.