In this week's Privacy Tracker global legislative roundup, read about Utah becoming the first state in the U.S. to have a law requiring government entities to obtain a warrant in order to access data from third parties. In Ghana, Parliament approved the Right to Information bill, which was first drafted in 1999, and now awaits presidential assent before being fully recognized as law. In Australia, Parliament is sending the country's encryption laws off to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor for further review, and Sri Lanka announced the country has plans to introduce a bill on data privacy within the next three months.
LATEST NEWS
Sri Lanka's Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando said the country will introduce a new bill on data privacy to Parliament within the next three months, Economy Next reports.
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A group of bipartisan lawmakers has introduced legislation that would halt a U.S. National Security Agency program that collects phone data en masse, The Hill reports. The Ending Mass Collection of Americans' Phone Records Act would also prevent the agency from restarting the program.
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Recently introduced in the Illinois Senate, SB 2134 would remove plaintiffs’ right to bring private causes of action under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and instead allow them to file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor to be enforced by the DOL and the Illinois Attorney General, JDSupra reports.
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Sen. Shenna Bellows, D-Maine, introduced LD 946 that would restrict Maine service providers from using, disclosing or sharing data without permission.
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U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., has reintroduced a data privacy bill that would give the Federal Trade Commission targeted rulemaking authority, Multichannel News reports.
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ICYMI
With Washington increasingly looking like it will become the second state in the U.S. to pass a comprehensive privacy statute, IAPP Westin Fellow Mitchell Noordyke, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, summarizes the Senate version of the bill in an easy-to-digest format.
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Jonathan Tam, CIPP/C, CIPP/US, has some suggestions on how to prepare for potential changes in U.S. children’s privacy law in this report for The Privacy Advisor.
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In this article for The Privacy Advisor, Jen Baker takes a look at new rules regulating political campaigns’ data use in the EU.
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AFRICA
In Ghana, Parliament approved the Right to Information bill that now awaits presidential assent before being fully recognized as law, News Ghana reports.
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ASIA-PACIFIC
Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter and Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield said the Coalition government will propose increasing the penalties within the Privacy Act and funding for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, but consultation on the draft legislation will only begin in the second half of 2019, ZDNet reports.
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Upon referral from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Parliament is sending Australia's encryption laws off to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor for further review, ZDNet reports.
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Designed to act as a competitive differentiator for businesses, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority launched the voluntary Data Protection Trustmark Certification to showcase data protection practices.
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CANADA
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has updated its "House Rules" interactive tool designed to help families navigate digital privacy risk.
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EUROPE
The Council of Europe issued a set of new guidelines on the protection of health-related data.
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The European Parliament voted to approve updated copyright rules that place newfound responsibility on platforms for copyright infringements committed by their users, CNN reports.
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Court of Justice of the European Union Advocate General Maciej Szpunar wrote in a non-binding opinion a website has not gathered valid consent when it requires a user to deselect a pre-checked box, The Register reports.
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The Vienna Higher Regional Court ruled Max Schrems can move forward with civil action against Facebook, opening the door for complaints made under Article 79 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation to be reviewed not only by data protection authorities, but also by civil court judges, NS Tech reports.
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Denmark’s data protection authority, Datatilsynet, has recommended a fine of $180,000 to taxi company Taxa 4x35 for violations of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Bloomberg Law reports.
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Baker McKenzie’s Global Compliance News reports on Poland’s new rules on employee privacy and documentation that took effect Jan. 1.
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The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office offered an overview of the two key components of its auditing framework for artificial intelligence.
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US
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced the agenda for the 12th session of its Hearings Initiative.
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Four operations have settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for reaching billions of customers through the use of illegal robocalls.
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In order to better understand the privacy practices of internet service providers, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to seven broadband providers for information on the ways the companies use customer data.
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office said agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should get more power to bring enforcement actions against credit bureaus for data breaches, Nextgov reports.
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The U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments from shoe retailer Zappos, meaning it must continue to face a class-action lawsuit over its 2012 data breach, The Hill reports.
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At a hearing last week, health care professionals told the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions further reform is needed on two proposed rules designed to increase interoperability from the Department of Health and Human Services, FierceHealthcare reports.
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Gov. Gary Herbert, R-Utah, signed off on a privacy bill recently passed through the state legislature, becoming the first state in the U.S. to have a law requiring government entities to obtain a warrant in order to access data from third parties, KSL.com reports.
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Democratic lawmakers have renewed their calls for a consumer privacy “bill of rights,” Multichannel News reports.
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