Introduction On 15 May, the ICO published the monetary penalty notice (MPN) in relation to the £12.7 million fine it imposed on TikTok in April. This MPN and its accompanying annexes set out details of TikTok’s non-compliance with data protection law and the reasons why the ICO considered that a fine was appropriate. Whilst a … Continue reading
Introduction: On 22 May, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (the DPC) published its decision against Meta Platform Ireland Ltd (Meta Ireland) in relation to Facebook’s transfer of user’s personal data to the US (the Decision). In it, the DPC ordered Meta Ireland to suspend Facebook’s future transfers of personal data to the U.S. within five … Continue reading
On 11 May 2023, members of the European Parliament passed their compromise text of the AI Act (the AI Act) at the committee stage, taking this law a step closer to being finalised. The compromise text (the Parliament Draft), which amends the Commission’s original proposal, includes quite a large number of amendments, some of which … Continue reading
In December 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, a powerful AI-powered chatbot that could handle users’ questions and requests for information or content in a convincing and confident manner. The number of users signing up to use the tool increased very rapidly, with users using the tool to write letters, edit text, generate lists, prepare presentations and … Continue reading
At last, UK Government publishes its White Paper on AI – “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation” – an opportune start, but as expected, a framework with detail to follow… The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has finally published its AI regulation white paper (the ‘White Paper’). Here are the key elements: What AI … Continue reading
EDPB Guidelines on the interplay between Article 3 and the provisions in Chapter V of the General Data Protection Regulation on international data transfers On 14 February 2023, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published its Guidelines on the interplay between Article 3 and the provisions in Chapter V of the General Data Protection Regulation … Continue reading
On 13 December, the European Commission launched the process to adopt an adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (EU-US DPF). The draft decision – available here – addresses the concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in its Schrems II decision of July 2020. These concerns centred around … Continue reading
On 25 November 2022, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (OFCOM) (together, the Regulators) released a joint statement setting out their shared views on the interactions between online safety and data protection (the Statement). The Statement, which is primarily intended for online services providers in scope of the Online Safety … Continue reading
As reported in our previous blogpost, on 7 October 2022, the US White House published an Executive Order on enhancing safeguards for United States signals intelligence activities (EO). In this blogpost, we set out the key points to note, including the background to the EO, what it does and does not do and what organisations … Continue reading
On 7 October 2022, the US White House published the Executive Order on enhancing safeguards for United States signals intelligence activities. This action is the first part of the US legal apparatus required for the EU Commission to find certain transfers to the US to be adequate. It is also likely in due course to … Continue reading
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has finally published the UK government’s long-awaited response to the consultation on the future of the UK data protection regime. The government set out very high level principles for a Data Reform Bill in the Queen’s Speech in May. If legislation is to be passed in this … Continue reading
On May 25th 2022, the European Commission published a series of questions and answers on the SCCs to be used between controllers and processors within the European Economic Area (EEA), and the SCCs to be used for transfers to countries not considered adequate by the European Commission (Third Countries) (the Q&As). The text of the … Continue reading
On 12 May 2022 EDPB adopted Guidelines on the calculation of administrative fines (the Guidelines). The Guidelines supplement the Article 29 Working Party’s Guidelines on the application and setting of administrative fines (WP253) adopted in October 2017 and recommends that the two are read together. Whereas the previous guidance set out general principles for when … Continue reading
On 25 March the EU Commission (Commission) and United States (US) announced that they had agreed in principle on a new “Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework” (TADPF) to foster trans-Atlantic data flows and address the concerns raised by Schrems II. We briefly discuss the implications below. The announcement was very high level and short on detail. … Continue reading
The UK government has finally published the UK’s own standard form international data transfer agreement (UK IDTA) for transferring personal data outside the UK to countries not deemed to have adequate data protection regimes. It has also published a standard form international data transfer addendum to the revised EU SCCs (EU SCC UK Conversion Addendum) … Continue reading
The UK Government has published its National AI Strategy. Click here to read more about what the National AI Strategy says about AI regulation, and its implications for data protection in the UK. In this detailed blog we examine three discrete issues addressed in it (AI regulation, data protection and intellectual property rights) and we … Continue reading
On 10 September 2021, the UK Government published its consultation paper on proposals to reform the UK’s data protection regime. The deadline for responding to the consultation is 19 November 2021. In August, the Government announced that it intended to “seize the opportunity” afforded by the UK’s exit from the European Union to makes some … Continue reading
The declining cost of electronic data storage may have caused some company executives to conclude that retaining personal data forever is “cheap.” Perhaps the CNIL’s €1.75 million (USD $2,051,930) penalty for over-retention will lead to a different view. The matter involved one of France’s largest insurers, SGAM AG2R LA MONDIALE, which was subject to an … Continue reading
On 26 August 2021, in a move that puts it on a potential collision course with the EU, the UK Government made a number of announcements relating to the future of the UK’s data protection regime, with the stated intention of “seizing the opportunity” by “developing a world leading data policy that will deliver a … Continue reading
The European Commission has today published a positive adequacy finding in respect of the UK’s data protection regime (the Decision). This means that personal data can continue to flow freely from the EU to the UK without the need for organisations to take further measures. For the time-being, however, the Decision does not concern personal … Continue reading
On 21 June 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published its finalised version of the Recommendations on supplementary measures (the Recommendations) to assist companies comply with the Schrems II judgement. This comes just a couple of weeks after the European Commission (the Commission) published new, revised Standard Contractual Clauses (New SCCs) (read our blog … Continue reading
On Friday 4 June, the European Commission published the finalised version of the new Standard Contractual Clauses for transferring personal data from the EU to third countries (the New SCCs). Privacy professionals have been waiting for the New SCCs for several years and have been particularly interested to know if the New SCCs will help … Continue reading
The European Commission has today published the finalised version of the new Standard Contractual Clauses (the new SCCs). The purpose of the new SCCs are to help companies legalise transfers of personal data from outside of the EEA. They will also be a lawful mechanism for UK companies to use too. The new SCCs were … Continue reading
It was reported yesterday that publication of revised final EU Standard Contractual Clauses may be as soon as next week and that revised final EDPB Recommendations possibly following the EDPB’s next plenary meeting on 15 June. This follows comments made by Ralf Sauer, EU Commission Deputy Head for International Data Flows, and Alexander Filip, Head … Continue reading