Global News Roundup — March 19–April 2, 2018

In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about a document from the Hong Kong Legislative Council’s panel on information technology and broadcasting empowering the privacy commissioner to enforce the country’s do-not-call registry. The U.K. and the EU have come to an agreement on a Brexit transition period, and the European Council’s Bulgarian presidency released a new working draft of the ePrivacy Regulation. In the U.S., the CLOUD Act was passed via the omnibus spending bill, likely ending the Supreme Court Microsoft case; the D.C. Circuit decided a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case that will eventually ease some of its more onerous requirements; and Alabama is closer to passing a breach notification law, while a federal bill is under debate in Congress.

LATEST NEWS

The Hong Kong Legislative Council’s panel on information technology and broadcasting has prepared a document empowering the privacy commissioner to enforce the country’ do-not-call registry, SCMP reports.
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In Saudi Arabia, spouses can now be punished for illegally spying on each other’s phones, computers or other mobile electronic devices, Al Arabiya reports.
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Legislation proposed by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., aims to create a “civilian personnel rotation program” for non-military and intelligence federal cybersecurity professionals, Inside Cybersecurity reports.
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U.S. lawmakers are considering loosening privacy protections for substance abuse information in the sharing of medical records between providers, Morning Consult reports. Supporters aim to include the bill in a package of legislation addressing the opioid addiction epidemic.
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A bill in front of the Delaware Assembly would make it illegal to use a drone to invade the privacy of individuals on private property, Delaware Business Now reports.
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Maryland’s House of Delegates has passed legislation requiring ISPs to notify residents of data breaches in which personal data was stolen, Capital Gazette reports. The bill now heads to Senate committee.
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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has signed into law the PATCH Act, enabling patients to request a summary of payment from insurance providers be sent to the individual requesting it and not only the policyholder, MassLive reports.
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ICYMI

In this piece for Privacy Tracker, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton’s Lynn Percival and Jacob Lopes write about the D.C. Circuit’s recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act decision, which paves the way for organizations to obtain relief from what some argued were onerous aspects of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 order updating the way the law should be interpreted — although not immediately.
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In signing the omnibus spending bill last week, U.S. President Donald Trump also signed into law the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act. The CLOUD Act will change how the U.S. government can access user data stored overseas, among other things. Peter Swire, CIPP/US, and Jennifer Daskal point out write about the law and its implications in this post for Privacy Tracker.
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US

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed a portion of a Federal Communications Commission regulation aimed at reducing robocalls, Bloomberg reports.
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The passing of the CLOUD Act likely signals the end of the long-standing U.S. v. Microsoft case, NPR reports.
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Law360 reports U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Becca Kelly Slaughter to the Federal Trade Commission. Slaughter is the chief counsel to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and, if confirmed, would become commissioner until September 2022.
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The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved a bill that would establish the Department of Homeland Security’s “cyber hunt and incident response teams” as a permanent fixture of the agency, CyberScoop reports.
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Attorneys general from across the U.S. signed a letter voicing their opposition to the proposed Data Acquisition and Technology Accountability and Security Act, HealthITSecurity reports.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights Director Roger Severino said federal regulators are considering changes to the HIPAA privacy rule and enforcement regulations, GovInfoSecurity reports.
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Alabama is closing in on having its own state data breach notification bill, HealthITSecurity reports. The Alabama Data Breach Notification Act of 2018 had passed through the state Senate earlier this month and now moves to the House of Representatives.
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Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed a new state data breach measure into law, meaning organizations will need to notify Oregon residents affected by a data breach within 45 days after the incident was discovered unless the revelation would impact a law enforcement investigation, GovTech reports.
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A bill to prohibit internet service providers that receive state subsidies from selling a customer’s data without notice or consent has reached an impasse in the Maine state legislature, the Press Herald reports.
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ASIA-PACIFIC

New Zealand Justice Minister Andrew Little introduced a replacement for the country’s 25-year-old Privacy Act, Stuff reports. The bill would introduce multiple changes to reinforce privacy law and establish data breach notification standards for both companies and government agencies.
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EUROPE

The Bulgarian presidency, currently leading the European Council, has released a new working draft of the ePrivacy Regulation.
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The European Union and the United Kingdom have reached a deal regarding a Brexit transition period, Politico reports.
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Telecompaper reports the Dutch justice ministry will soon be introducing new legislation related to telecom operators retaining data.
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An amendment to the Irish Data Protection Bill 2018 will open government departments and other public bodies to face regulatory fines once the EU General Data Protection Regulation goes into effect, The Irish Times reports.
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European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli presented the annual report covering the organization's activities in 2017.
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