In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about advancements in France’s proposed surveillance bill, questions about Germany’s data retention bill and the Garante’s clarification on Italy’s new cookie rules. In Canada, questions are being raised about a privacy provision in the government’s budget bill; the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has released its 2014 report to Parliament, and the Nova Scotia Information and Protection of Privacy Review Office released its first annual report. Australia is offering telcos the ability to apply for 18-month extensions for data retention compliance, and the U.S. has a new intelligence-gathering regime under the USA FREEDOM Act.

LATEST NEWS

Michael Geist writes in the Hill Times that the Canadian government’s budget implementation bill includes “constitutionally suspect privacy provisions.”

U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced the Including Families in Mental Health Recovery Act, designed to clarify HIPAA privacy rules as they apply to mental health, reports HealthIT Security.

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Both houses of the Oregon Senate have now passed a bill that would require health insurance companies to communicate directly with a patient, instead of with a policy holder, reports Oregon Public Broadcasting.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill requiring police departments to create policies around body-worn cameras and establishes a fund to help purchase them, but it also restricts when videos can be accessed by the public, reports The Herald.

ICYMI

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

U.S.

In this Privacy Perspectives post, Prof. Peter Swire, CIPP/US, applauds the passage of the USA FREEDOM Act, calling it "the biggest pro-privacy change to U.S. intelligence law since the original enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978."

US News & World Report reflects on the USA PATRIOT Act.

A House appropriations bill bars the Federal Communications Commission from using its appropriated funds to "implement, administer or enforce" its net neutrality rules until the courts resolve three outstanding cases with telecom companies, The Hill reports.

MediaPost reports industry groups met with the Internet broadband providers under the Federal Communications Commission to discuss the implications of the net neutrality order.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed into law a bill protecting the confidentiality of victims of sexual assault on college campuses in the state, reports KTVZ.

Civil liberties proponents are raising concerns that a provision included in an annual intelligence policy bill could hobble the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, The Hill reports.

The attempt by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to attach the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act to the National Defense Authorization Act as an amendment failed by four votes, NationalJournal reports.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has received the support of security experts who argue that legal protection for companies that disclose data breach details to the government will promote prevention and communication, USA Today reports.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) wants websites to have an "erase button that parents can use to scrub personal information about their children from the Internet,"The Telegram reports.

U.S. Department of Education CPO Kathleen Styles, CIPP/G, is concerned over what she sees as inconsistencies between FERPA and HIPAA, The Huffington Post reports.

Check out the IAPP’s online Resource Center for three offerings from Bryan Cave that analyze class-action lawsuits from Q3 2013 to Q3 2014 involving data privacy issues in general, breach litigation and telemarketing litigation—including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

CANADA

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has released its 2014 Annual Report to Parliament.

Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced legislative changes to the Personal Health Information Protection Act targeted at reducing snooping by healthcare employees, the Toronto Star reports.

Nova Scotia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Review Officer Catherine Tully released her first annual report, highlighting "significant work" that needs to be done in developing mature privacy programs at public agencies and municipal bodies.

EU

As the EU inches closer to data protection reform, Plesner Law Firm Attorney Christian Wiese Svanberg takes a look back at what could have been in this post for Privacy Perspectives.

The French Senate has supported a new surveillance bill that would give intelligence agencies more freedom to monitor phones and email without a judge's permission, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

German Data Protection Commissioner Andreas Voßhoff says the government's data retention bill amounts to a violation of the basic civil rights of all Europeans, EurActiv reports.

Germany' s Monopolies Commission is calling for "consumers to be given new rights to control how their personal data is used by companies,"Out-Law.com reports.

In this Global Privacy Dispatch for The Privacy Advisor, NCTM Studio Legale Associato Partner Rocco Panetta offers an overview of the Garante’s clarification on its new cookie rules.

ASIA-PACIFIC

The Australian Attorney-General's Department has told telecommunications companies they may apply for 18-month extensions to comply with new data retention legislation that passed in March, ZDNet reports.