Global News Roundup—June 15-22, 2015

This week’s Privacy Tracker weekly legislative roundup includes a report on the Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee’s approval of recommendations for improved safeguards in a biometrics bill. And in Germany, the Social Democrats have given “reluctant approval” for data retention legislation to be submitted to Parliament. The latest developments in the U.S. include the introduction of the Protecting Individuals From Mass Aerial Surveillance Act, which would require federal agencies to obtain warrants for aerial surveillance. Also in this week’s roundup, catch up on the stories you missed about the progress on the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the Digital Privacy Act coming into force in Canada.

LATEST NEWS

The Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee has approved recommendations to increase safeguards in a biometrics bill, reports the Law Council of Australia.

In Germany, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel “has won reluctant approval from his Social Democrats” for data retention legislation to be submitted to Parliament, DW reports.

In the U.S., discussions surrounding mental health legislation proposed by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) are raising questions of the privacy interests of patients versus informing healthcare professionals, reports Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

EdSurge reports on one survey’s findings as to which proposed U.S. education privacy bill is likely to become law.

The Intercept reports on the Protecting Individuals From Mass Aerial Surveillance Act, introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Dean Heller (R-NV), which “would require federal agencies to obtain a warrant before conducting aerial surveillance operations.”

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed a plan to acquire the license-plate readers that had “passed both houses of the Louisiana legislature overwhelmingly,” citing privacy concerns, Ars Technica reports.

The National Law Review reports that New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan has signed into law HB 520, which establishes guidelines for the protection of students’ personal information online.

KULR reports that the Wyoming legislature is considering adding privacy and open government amendments to its constitution.

ICYMI

The USA FREEDOM Act, which was recently signed into law, is considered the first major pro-privacy change to U.S. intelligence law since the original enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978, IAPP Westin Research Center Fellow Arielle Brown, CIPP/US, writes in this analysis for Privacy Tracker.

Fieldfisher's Olivier Proust, CIPP/E, writes about the draft General Data Protection Regulation adopted by the European Council of Ministers; John Bowman, CIPP/E, outlines the objections the Council had to overcome, and Sam Pfeifle and Jedidiah Bracy, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, write for Privacy Tracker about the Article 29 Working Party’s thoughts on the legislation.

China's telecommunications regulator, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has promulgated a new regulation aimed at cracking down on spam messages, Scott Livingston writes for Privacy Tracker.

GLOBAL

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. to provide the same data rights to Europeans that Americans have under the Privacy Act of 1974 has received acclaim on both sides of the political aisle, Politico reports.

U.S.

Trevor Timm writes for The Guardian about comments by Sen. Ron Wyden (D- OR) and his caution to Congress to vote against the Cybersecurity Information Security Act (CISA), calling CISA "surveillance bill by another name."

A court has ruled that a Medco Health Solution's unsolicited fax to Sandusky Wellness Center was not a breach of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because it wasn't an actual advertisement, Douglas Brent, CIPP/US, writes for Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC.

CANADA

The Technology Analysis Branch of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has released its Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) Follow Up Research Project, and The Globe and Mail reports that while the OBA industry “has made progress in giving consumers more choice about the ads that target them … some of those ads are still getting a little too personal.”

The Digital Privacy Act, also known as Bill S-4, has now come into force, IT World Canada reports, suggesting that for this law, "the devil is in the regulations" rather than the details.

Michael Geist writes for The Tyee on how the budget bill, Bill C-59, will "make major changes to Canadian privacy law."

EU

Belgium's Constitutional Court has ended the country’s data retention law because it "violated the principle of equality, non-discrimination and the right to the respect for private life," Telecompaper reports.

In what some are calling a surprise decision, the European Court of Human Rights has found that Estonian news website Delfi can be held responsible for anonymous comments on its site, Ars Technica reports.

German Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Andrea Voßhoff has called the draft law permitting telecom companies to retain data for an unspecified reason "unconstitutional," DW reports.

The lower house of the Russian Parliament has given initial approval to legislation requiring search engines to remove outdated or irrelevant personal data upon request from users, Reuters reports.

LATIN AMERICA

Colombia's Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has launched the Colombian Accountability Guidelines—the first of their kind in Latin America, Angelique Carson, CIPP/US, reports for The Privacy Advisor.