German Federal Labour Court dismissed employee’s claim On 27 April 2021, the German Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, the Federal Court) held that employees cannot request their employer to provide them with copies of all (i) the employee’s entire email correspondence; and (ii) any emails mentioning the employee by name. The Federal Court said that under … Continue reading
On April 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the question whether the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) definition of “autodialer” encompasses equipment that can “store” and dial telephone numbers, even if the device does not “us[e] a random or sequential number generator.” It does not. To qualify as an “automatic telephone dialing system,” a … Continue reading
On March 2, 2021, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia signed into law the Consumer Data Protection Act, which contains many elements of California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The new law goes into effect on January 1, 2023. But first, you need to determine whether the law … Continue reading
A German state data protection authority has issued a fine of EUR 10.4m against a mid-size online retailer who allegedly violated the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by monitoring their employees using CCTV. The State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit) of Lower Saxony (the State Commissioner) … Continue reading
As the second wave of COVID-19 spreads across Canada, the use of COVID-19 tracing apps is on the rise. For example, the Government of Canada released COVID Alert–an app using Bluetooth technology to help people report positive diagnoses, and control the spread of the virus. The success of the app depends on a high quantity … Continue reading
The California Attorney General has just issued some proposed revisions to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations and our readers may be surprised by one of the proposed changes. You may recall that California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) had rejected some the proposed CCPA regulations during the summer, but accepted most of them. … Continue reading
On September 11, 2020, the German Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK), the joint body of the German data protection authorities, published its position on the use of thermal cameras and electronic temperature checks in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite voicing general criticisms of body temperature checking in the context of COVID-19, the DSK stated that it … Continue reading
On September 15, 2020, the New York Attorney General (NYAG) announced a proposed settlement with Dunkin’ Brands, relating to brute force and credential stuffing attacks against members’ online accounts (including stored value cards). Dunkin’ does not admit or deny any of the NYAG’s allegations in the complaint. (New York v. Dunkin’ Brands, No. 451787/2019 (N.Y. … Continue reading
In the immediate aftermath of the Schrems II judgement, Bruno Gencarelli (Head of the International data flows and protection unit at the European Commission) said that “Schrems II is data transfers from theory to practice”. There have been several major developments over the last couple of weeks (explained below) which show this to be an … Continue reading
On 10 August, the European Commission and the US Department of Commerce confirmed that talks have begun between the EU and US for an “enhanced” Privacy Shield. This will be the third attempt to revise this framework, following the invalidation of Safe Harbor in 2015 and Privacy Shield in July 2020. Third time a charm? … Continue reading
On July 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the federal law that prohibits “robocalls” to cell phones but struck down the exception for collection of debts owed to the federal government. (Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, No. 19–631 (July 6, 2020) (2020 WL 3633780).) Previously, on June 25, a Bureau … Continue reading
Just when we thought our summers might have been looking a bit dull, it was announced that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will be making its final ruling in Case C-311/18, Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland & Schrems on 16 July 2020. This judgement concerns the legality of the European … Continue reading
Many businesses are suffering serious financial difficulties as a result of COVID-19, particularly those in the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors. For many of these businesses the one asset that will undoubtedly retain value, despite the pandemic, will be their customer database. This valuable commodity could help attract potential purchasers. But this is a tricky … Continue reading
A few weeks ago, we provided you with a summary of the rights and obligations of employers with regard to the personal data of their employees during lockdown. On 11 May, many employees will return to their workplaces. Below you will find answers to the main questions you may have ahead as the end of … Continue reading
Following the example of many European countries, the French government plans to introduce a contact tracing app, known as “StopCovid”. The app is designed to be used by people once they leave the confinement of their homes with the aim of preventing the spread of COVID-19. StopCovid is being developed within the INRIA, the French … Continue reading
Last week, the Irish Data Protection Commission (“DPC”) published its much anticipated guidance note on cookies and similar tracking technologies (the “Guidance”). It also published a report following a “cookie sweep” that took place between August 2019 and December 2019 of 38 data controllers (the “Report”). The cookie sweep requested information from the data controllers … Continue reading
Employers across the world are facing extremely difficult challenges in keeping their workplaces safe for their employees, contractors and visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the prevailing instinct is likely to be to protect and to prevent the spread of the virus at all costs, under data protection laws this still needs to be weighed … Continue reading
On March 10, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued guidance to all of its regulated institutions engaged in virtual currency business activity, requiring them to have plans for preparedness to manage the possible operational and financial risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. NYDFS requires the plans to be submitted by Thursday, April 9, … Continue reading
Outbreak of the coronavirus and personal data privacy The fast-spreading coronavirus (Covid-19) has infected thousands of people in China and in over 20 other countries. This coronavirus outbreak, originating in Wuhan, a large city located in the central region of China, has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World … Continue reading
Quebec’s minister of justice announced her intention to introduce a bill aimed at modernizing the privacy regime provided by the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.… Continue reading
Recent legal action by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) will shed light on the Federal Court’s willingness to enforce and monitor compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). On February 6, the OPC filed a notice of application (the Application) in the Federal Court seeking a declaration … Continue reading
At the end of 2019, following a public consultation, the CNIL adopted its much-anticipated “standard” on whistleblowing systems. The “standard” is essentially a reference document which serves as guidance for those implementing whistleblowing systems.… Continue reading
The CNIL has published draft recommendations on how to obtain consent when placing cookies. This is following the publication of its revised “Guidelines on the implementation of cookies or similar tracking technologies” which was published in July 2019 (see our article here). The objective of the recommendations is to provide stakeholders with practical guidance and … Continue reading
The discussion paper on the proposed changes to Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap.486) (the PDPO) was debated by the Legislative Council’s Panel on Constitutional Affairs’ (the Panel) on 20 January. The proposals set out in LC Paper. No. CB(2) 512/19-20(03) (the Paper) are summarised in our earlier post.… Continue reading