Global News Roundup—May 11-18

In the EU, France’s new antiterrorism law has some wondering whether it’s within the confines of EU law; Belgium is making the case for its authority to regulate Facebook, and Italy’s general resolution on online profiling activities is now in force. South Africa has new regulations for drone operators, and Australia’s privacy commissioner just got an extra $4.2M to deal with the new data retention law. Also in this week’s Privacy Tracker weekly legislative roundup, read about proposals at the U.S. federal level and new laws in states, including Georgia’s student privacy law, New Jersey’s limitations on vehicle event-recorder data and Maryland’s new social media law for higher education institutions.

LATEST NEWS

South Africa has a new law regulating the use of drones that includes requiring operators to have licenses and prohibiting them from flying drones within 50 meters of crowds, reports News24.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has pulled its support from the USA FREEDOM Act, asking for more reforms to be included from the 2013 version of the bill, reports The Hill. Tech industry groups are encouraging the bill’s passage, however, Broadcasting & Cable reports.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed the Student Data Privacy, Accessibility and Transparency Act into law, putting controls around the management of student data, reports Government Technology.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has signed a law that prohibits officials at higher education institutions from requiring students to give them access to private social media accounts, reports The Huffington Post.

New Jersey Law Journal reports Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a bill that limits access to information collected from vehicle “black boxes.”

The New Jersey Assembly has passed a bill requiring police, in most cases, to get warrants prior to using drones, PhillyVoice reports.

ICYMI

Peter Swire, CIPP/US, Huang Professor of Law and Ethics at Georgia Tech and senior counsel at Alston & Bird, writes for Privacy Tracker about the implications of recent hits to the controversial Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and the options in front of the Senate.

GLOBAL

The Global Privacy Enforcement Network plans to focus its 2015 international privacy sweep on the proliferation of websites and mobile applications targeted at children.

The EU and the U.S. are close to completing negotiations on a deal protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes such as terrorism investigations, Reuters reports.

U.S.

Gov Info Security reports that an amended version of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Bill has passed the House Energy and Commerce's health subcommittee without any revisions; however, some privacy experts are concerned with provisions that would  weaken Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy protections.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has introduced his own version of a student privacy bill to give parents control over how their children's data is released and used, adding to the collection of those already drafted, The Hill reports.

Forbes reports. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) introduced the Commercial UAS Modernization Act, which would set guidelines for unmanned aircrafts systems.

The Hill reports, a bill from Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Edward Markey (D-MA). aims to force the hand of educational intuitions to not only alert students and their families that their data is being handled by third parties but also prohibit schools from selling said data.

House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul (R-TX) says the USA PATRIOT Act, set to expire June 1, will be renewed by Congress with more privacy protections, Newsmax reports.

Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), together with a group of Democratic senators, has sent the Federal Communications Commission a letter urging it to maintain the privacy provisions within the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

A coalition of industry trade groups argues in court papers that the Federal Communication Commission's move to reclassify broadband as a utility will place "immense burdens and costs" on Internet service providers, MediaPost reports.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a bill that will require law enforcement to get a judge-approved warrant before deploying stingrays or cell-site simulators, SC Magazine reports.

Illinois data breach legislation HB 1833 is being opposed by the ad industry, which says it creates "unnecessary compliance burdens" for businesses, MediaPost reports.

CBS2 reports that New York Assemblyman Kevin Cahill (R-Kingston) is sponsoring a bill that would let drivers decide whether the Department of Motor Vehicles can sell their data, a practice that currently happens without drivers’ permission.

EU

The Belgian Commission for the Protection of Privacy has released a lengthy "recommendation" that outlines its beliefs as to why it has competency to regulate Facebook. Sam Pfeifle summarizes the findings for The Privacy Advisor.

In this exclusive for Privacy Perspectives, Facebook Global Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Stephen Deadman says the one-stop-shop mechanism in the proposed General Data Protection Regulation is “in danger”and speaks from experience of the likely consequences for the EU if the one-stop shop is rejected or seriously watered down.

A general resolution on profiling activities online, issued in March by the Italian Data Protection Authority, is now in force, NCTM Studio Legale Associato Partner Rocco Panetta explains in this Global Privacy Dispatch for The Privacy Advisor.

Lexology examines the way cookies are regulated in the Czech Republic.

In a post for FieldFisher's Privacy and Information Law Blog, Phil Lee, CIPP/E, CIPM, says the General Data Protection Regulation will not prevent forum shopping because "businesses don't choose their homes based on data protection alone.”

The UK's high court ruled the government may indefinitely retain the DNA of adults convicted of crimes without illegally breaching their privacy, The Guardian reports.

Telecompaper reports Dutch Members of Parliament are questioning a proposed law to end data retention.

Politico reports France's new antiterrorism legislation is setting off alarms in Brussels, with questions as to whether the wide-ranging powers it gives French intelligence are within EU law.

ASIA PACIFIC

Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has gotten an extra $4.2 million in funding to cover resources required to monitor the privacy implications of the government's data retention scheme, iTnews reports.

In an effort to increase citizen participation in Australia's Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record program, the government is making overtures to transition from an opt-in method of enrollment to opt-out, IT News reports.

The Singapore Personal Data Protection Commission’s Leong Keng Thai and Singapore Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim painted a picture of the regulatory environment in Singapore.

New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards says he is "getting tougher as a regulator.” Sam Pfeifle reports from the Singaporean Personal Data Protection Commission's third annual data protection seminar for The Privacy Advisor.