Topic: Enforcement

First multi-million GDPR fine in Germany: €14.5 million for not having a proper data retention schedule in place

By Christoph Ritzer (DE) and Natalia Filkina (DE) on November 12, 2019 Posted in Enforcement

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose Fulbright

On October 30, 2019 the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit – Berlin DPA) issued a €14.5 million fine on a German real estate company, die Deutsche Wohnen SE (Deutsche Wohnen), the highest German GDPR fine to date. The infraction related to the over retention of personal … Continue reading

German Data Protection Authorities publishes a new GDPR model for fines

By Christoph Ritzer (DE) and Natalia Filkina (DE) on October 28, 2019 Posted in Enforcement

The German Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK), the joint body of the German data protection authorities, has just published the model which it intends to use to calculate fines pursuant to Article 83 of the GDPR.… Continue reading

Mic Drop: California AG releases long-awaited CCPA Rulemaking

By David Kessler (US), Jeewon Kim Serrato (US), Susan Ross (US), Anna Rudawski (US) and Max Kellogg (US) on October 11, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Cybersecurity, Enforcement, Regulatory response

On October 10, 2019, with just weeks to go until the law goes into effect, the California Attorney General released the long-awaited draft regulations for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The proposed rules shed light on how the California AG is interpreting and will be enforcing key sections of the CCPA. In the press … Continue reading

New York’s Breach Law Amendments and New Security Requirements

By David Kessler (US) and Susan Ross (US) on October 1, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, General

Although California has recently captured the lion’s share of attention with respect to privacy and security, on October 23, 2019, New York’s amended security breach law goes into effect, and on March 1, 2020, new security safeguards go live (N.Y. S.B. 5575). Anyone with personal information about a New York resident is potentially affected by … Continue reading

And then there were five: CCPA amendments pass legislature

By Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Susan Ross (US) on September 17, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, General

Executive Summary: The wait is over: Only five CCPA amendments made it through the California legislature. The amendments are limited in scope, which means the CCPA will go into effect, largely intact, on January 1, 2020.… Continue reading

CCPA: “Wait and see” is not the right approach

By Chris Cwalina (US), David Kessler (US), Steve Roosa (US), Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Susan Ross (US) on August 29, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Cybersecurity, Enforcement, Regulatory response

We are seeing companies use many different approaches to the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) compliance, but the “wait and see” approach in particular is not advisable. Companies who want to “wait and see” point to the pending amendments to CCPA that are currently working through the California Senate (as we have previously described—see links … Continue reading

One-Month Countdown to Pass CCPA Amendments Begins

By Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Susan Ross (US) on August 12, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, General

On August 12, the California legislature returns after its summer recess. Starting with the Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing today, the legislature will now have approximately a month to continue the markups and send California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) amendments to the Governor’s desk for signature before the September 13 deadline. As previously reported, any amendment … Continue reading

Website operators joint controllers with third-party plugin providers

By Lara White (UK), Natalia Filkina (DE) and Shiv Daddar (UK) on August 12, 2019 Posted in Enforcement

Norton Rose Fulbright - Data Protection Report blog

On 29 July 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its judgement on Case C-40/17 (the “Fashion-ID” case). In its ruling, the ECJ held that operators of websites embedding Facebook’s “Like” button act as data controllers jointly with Facebook in respect of the collection and transmission to Facebook of the personal data of visitors … Continue reading

US CLOUD Act and International Privacy

By Marcus Evans (UK), David Kessler (US), Jim Lennon (AU) and Susan Ross (US) on August 1, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, General

The U.S. Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (“CLOUD Act”) is apparently the Goldilocks of the privacy world, according to recent statements issued by two international jurisdictions. The CLOUD Act’s requirements are “too hard” for Australian law, according to the Law Council of Australia, but the privacy protections are “too soft” for the European … Continue reading

Back At The Negotiating Table: CCPA Amendments Debate Continues

By David Kessler (US), Jeewon Kim Serrato (US), Susan Ross (US) and Anna Rudawski (US) on July 16, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, General

In a 12-hour marathon hearing, the California Senate Judiciary Committee on July 9, 2019, debated, struck down, scaled back and put back on the negotiating table key amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Read below to find out what happened to the much-anticipated “employee exception” bill, “customer loyalty program” bill, and the bill … Continue reading

New CNIL €400,000 fine for data security breaches and non-compliance with data retention period under the GDPR

By Nadège Martin (FR) and Nilofar Moini Shabestari (FR) on July 8, 2019 Posted in Data breach, Enforcement

Following the now famous €50m fine imposed on Google LLC in January 2019,[1] the French Data Protection Authority (the CNIL) published a decision taken on 28 May 2019[2] imposing a fine of €400,000 on SERGIC, a company specialised in real estate development, purchase, sale, rental and property management.… Continue reading

Nevada, New York and other states follow California’s CCPA

By Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Susan Ross (US) on June 6, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, General, Regulatory response

The US privacy law landscape continues to shift and evolve as state and federal privacy legislative proposals continue to be debated and become enacted. While CCPA-like bills in Washington and Texas failed to pass, Nevada passed its online privacy amendment and proposals in New York and Washington, DC appear to be gaining momentum.… Continue reading

CCPA: “Attorney General Amendment” Likely Dead

By David Kessler (US), Spencer Persson (US), Steve Roosa (US), Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Susan Ross (US) on May 17, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, Regulatory response

This is the Data Protection Report’s ninth blog post in a series of CCPA blog posts that will break down the major elements of the CCPA. Stay tuned for additional posts on the CCPA. On May 16, 2019, the California Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing that included S.B. 561, the “Attorney General amendment” to the … Continue reading

Google and other big data companies face increased scrutiny

By Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Vic Domen (US) on April 25, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement

Big data companies like Google and Facebook are now facing increased scrutiny about the use of massive amounts of personal data in the digital ad marketplace.… Continue reading

Parenting support club Bounty fined in ‘unprecedented’ data breach

By Lara White (UK) on April 18, 2019 Posted in Enforcement

On 12 April, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) fined Bounty, a pregnancy and parent support club, £400,000 for illegally sharing personal data belonging to more than 14 million people. As the contravention took place just before the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, the fine was issued under the Data Protection Act 1998 … Continue reading

French court issues decision on legality of Privacy Rules and Terms of Use under data protection and consumer law

By Cécile Auvieux (FR) and Nadège Martin (FR) on April 12, 2019 Posted in Dispute resolution and litigation, Enforcement

Five years after the commencement of legal proceedings against Google by leading French consumer association UFC Que Choisir, the Paris “Tribunal de Grande Instance” (TGI), in a decision dated 12 February 2019, issued its ruling on the legality of the Google+ Terms of Use and Privacy Rules, both with respect to consumer law and personal … Continue reading

EDPB issues new opinion on interplay between Clinical Trials Regulation and the GDPR

By David Kessler (US), Christoph Ritzer (DE), Sven Jacobs (DE), Anna Rudawski (US) and Max Kellogg (US) on February 19, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, Regulatory response

On January 23, 2019, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) issued an opinion on the interplay between the Clinical Trials Regulation (“CTR”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).… Continue reading

First multi-million Euro GDPR fine: Google LLC fined €50 million under GDPR for transparency and consent infringements in relation to use of personal data for personalized ads

By Marcus Evans (UK), Lara White (UK) and Cécile Auvieux (FR) on January 25, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Cybersecurity, Enforcement, Regulatory response

On January 21,2019 the French data protection authority (the CNIL) imposed a major fine on the U.S. Google entity, Google LLC. It follows two complaints filed as soon as the GDPR came into force by two consumer rights associations, None of Your Business and La Quadrature du Net. We focus here on four key aspects … Continue reading

California Attorney General’s Office begins CCPA rulemaking process with first public hearing while Congress debates new federal privacy law

By Jeewon Kim Serrato (US) and Arleen Fernandez (US) on January 14, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Enforcement, Regulatory response

This is the Data Protection Report’s sixth post in a series of CCPA blog posts that will break down the major elements of the CCPA. Stay tuned for additional CCPA posts. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), California’s new privacy law which takes effect on January 1, 2020, requires the Attorney General to … Continue reading

Transition period under New York Cybersecurity Regulation ends March 1, 2019

By Kathleen Scott (US), Susan Ross (US) and Tristan Coughlin* (US) on January 7, 2019 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Cybersecurity, Enforcement, Fintech, General, Vendor management and transactions

The two-year transitional period under the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Cybersecurity Regulation, 23 NYCRR 500 (the “Regulation”), will expire on March 1, 2019, with the final remaining requirement becoming effective. Entities covered by the Regulation that utilize third party service providers, which include not only banks and insurers, but also other … Continue reading