In this week’s Privacy Tracker legislative roundup, read about updates to Kenya’s laws to ensure that they’re in line with the country’s constitution, technology companies pushing for a vote on the Email Privacy Act in the U.S., and finance and retail groups working with lawmakers to address cybersecurity threats. Also, check out interviews with Ireland’s outgoing data protection commissioner and Connecticut’s attorney general as well as a rundown on the new makeup of the European Commission.
LATEST NEWS
The Kenyan Cabinet has approved measures to ensure privacy policy and law are consistent with the constitution, reports Standard Digital.
In the U.S., JD Supra reports “a federal court in Washington issued an unpublished decision affirming that a common policy exclusion protects insurers from having to provide coverage in certain cases of alleged privacy violations.”
U.S.
In this Q&A for The Privacy Advisor, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen tells Divonne Smoyer, CIPP/US, and Christine Czuprynski about being at the forefront of state-led privacy enforcement, and Connecticut is considered one of the most active states in privacy policy and legal enforcement.
As lawmakers return to work in Washington, DC, on the agenda will be figuring out what to do about mobile app privacy, Politico reports.
Roll Call reports that technology firms are asking Congress "to redefine the rules on medical privacy, saying the potential risks of disclosure should be weighed again against the potential benefits of wider sharing and easier access to crucial health data."
Microsoft has reached a deal with the U.S. government in which it will agree to be held in contempt of court in order to move an email privacy case on to appeal, Ars Technica reports.
A host of technology companies including Google, Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo have written to congressional majority leaders requesting a vote on the Email Privacy Act, which has seen no movement since it was proposed last summer, despite having the support of more than half the house, reports The Hill.
Industry groups from the retail and finance sectors met with several lawmakers to discuss omnipresent cybersecurity threats and the need to work together to combat the onslaught of cyber-attacks, Associations Now reports.
CANADA
Metro News reports on BC's upcoming review of the province's Personal Information Privacy Act (PIPA). BC residents have until September 19 "to voice any concerns."
EU
IAPP Publications Director Sam Pfeifle has all the details on European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's announcement of his nominations for a suite of new commissioners in this exclusive for The Privacy Advisor.
In this exclusive for The Privacy Advisor, Irish Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes discusses the highs and lows of his tenure and what his replacement may expect, especially given it will be her job to regulate tech giants like Yahoo, Google and Facebook, headquartered in Ireland.
In this post for Privacy Perspectives, Christian Wiese Svanberg looks at the limits and inherent ironies of the controversial ruling on the right to be forgotten and why it's important to "avoid a Kafkaesque Internet sanitization system..."
ASIA PACIFIC
In a feature for The Sydney Morning Herald, University of NSW Law Prof. George Williams writes "a gaping hole lies in Australian law.”
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recommends data breach notification "be one of the four key steps organisations undertake in response to any detected breach," CSO reports, citing recently published OAIC guidelines.