The Cayman Islands are once again considering a data protection bill — an effort that has failed twice before. Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that police use of GPS devices without a warrant is illegal. New Zealand’s customs head may get new powers to share citizen data with amendments to a customs law, and Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has proposed amendments to the country’s Privacy Act 1993. Germany’s Parliament has approved amendments to the Federal Data Protection Act. And in the U.S., there are proposals for privacy protections from expanded government drone use, plus action in California, New Mexico, Utah and more. Read about this and more in this week’s Privacy Tracker weekly roundup.

LATEST NEWS

According to The Tyee, British Columbia, Canada, currently has no privacy commissioner as a special committee has failed to come to consensus on a replacement for former commissioner Elizabeth Denham, and Acting Commissioner Drew McArthur's term has expired.
More

Cayman Islands lawmakers are again discussing a data protection bill, which failed to make it to the House floor in two previous attempts, reports the Cayman Compass.
More

ADVERTISEMENT

Syrenis ad, a privacy professional's AI checkilist

The Japan News reports that the country’s Supreme Court has ruled police use of GPS devices without a court warrant in criminal investigations is illegal.
More

A New Zealand customs reform bill would give the head of the customs agency “unprecedented” power to share citizens’ data, raising the ire of Privacy Commissioner John Edwards, reports the New Zealand Herald.
More

California legislators are considering three bills aimed at shielding state-held personal data from federal government agencies, reports KQED.
More

The Illinois General Assembly rejected an attempt to prohibit the state from sharing Social Security numbers of government employees with unions, reports Illinois Policy.
More

The New Mexico state legislature has unanimously passed the Data Breach Notification Act, reports CUNA News.
More

ICYMI

Denis Kelleher, CIPP/E, writes for Privacy Tracker about the impact of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling in the Tele2 NL case.
More

Alex Wall, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, for Privacy Tracker about U.S. House bill HR 1313, the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, and it’s potential effect on current employee privacy protections.
More

Interim Deputy Commissioner of the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office Steve Wood made that clear in his keynote at the IAPP's Data Protection Intensive in London on Wednesday that there will be no grace period for GDPR compliance. Angelique Carson, CIPP/US, has the story in this exclusive for The Privacy Advisor.
More

The Garante, Italy's data protection authority, has issued the five highest sanctions in its history, in fact, the highest fine ever issued in Europe. Rocco Panetta has the details in this exclusive for The Privacy Advisor. 
More

In this post for Privacy Tracker, Miguel Recio writes about Mexico’s new data protection law for public-sector agencies, Ley General de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de Sujetos Obligados
More

For the IAPP's FTC Casebook, IAPP Westin Fellow Cobun Keegan, CIPP/US, CIPM, provides a full analysis of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s case against VIZIO and VIZIO Inscape Services, which settled last month.
More

US

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., proposed legislation to protect citizens’ privacy from expanded government drone use, The Hill reports.
More

The Utah State Legislature has passed a bill prohibiting individuals from using identifying information online with the "intent to abuse," The Washington Post reports.
More

Membership reward service Upromise will pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle claims that it had violated the Federal Trade Commission's 2012 order mandating that the company both gather third-party assessments of its data collection toolbar and provide disclosures about its data collection, the agency reports. 
More

Maine Sens. Eric Brakey, R, and Shenna Bellows, D, have written to President Donald Trump with the support of Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, calling on him to repeal elements of the REAL ID program via executive order, BDN Maine reports.
More

ASIA PACIFIC

The February edition of the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore's newsletter, "DPO Connect," covers the release of the PDPC's annual report, Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act and enforcement actions made by the commission.
More 

In a blog post, DLA Piper analyzes New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards' proposed amendments to the Privacy Act 1993 as part of the country's privacy law revision announced by the Ministry of Justice in 2014.
More

EUROPE

The lower house of Parliament in Germany has approved amendments to the Federal Data Protection Act placing a greater emphasis on surveillance, BBC News reports.
More

European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli has issued an opinion on the European Commission's "Proposal for a Directive on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content."
More

In a nonlegislative resolution drafted by MEP Ana Gomes, Members of the European Parliament have called for stronger protections around the use of big data and better security measures including privacy by design, mandatory privacy impact assessments and encryption.
More

The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office has issued a 20,000 GBP fine to a company caught sending 64,000 spam text messages.
More

In an op-ed for The Parliament Magazine, German Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht says the proposed ePrivacy Regulation is a step in the right direction, but more work still needs to be done.
More