Tag archives: Privacy

Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds common law duty for employers extends to protecting sensitive employee information

Data Protection Report - Norton Rose Fulbright

On November 21, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court broke new ground by holding that employers have a legal duty to take reasonable care to safeguard its employees’ sensitive personal information from cyberattacks. … Continue reading

Vicarious liability in the data breach context – bad news for UK employers?

By Steven Hadwin (UK), Mya Joel (UK), Marcus Evans (UK), Catrina Smith (UK) and Amanda Sanders (UK) on October 29, 2018 Posted in Data breach

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the High Court holding that an employer can be vicariously liable for data breaches caused by the actions of an employee, even where the employee’s actions were specifically intended to harm the employer. This decision is significant as it means a company can be held liable … Continue reading

Norton Rose Fulbright – cyber law firm of the year nomination

By Chris Cwalina (US), Ffion Flockhart (UK) and Steven Hadwin (UK) on August 29, 2018 Posted in General

We are grateful to our clients and industry contacts for nominating us as cyber law firm of the year at the 2018 Insurance Insider Cyber Rankings Awards. The winner will be determined from the results of a wide-ranging survey of insurers and brokers and will be announced on September 21, 2018.… Continue reading

California Consumer Privacy Act: GDPR-like definition of personal information

By Chris Cwalina (US), Jeewon Kim Serrato (US), Steve Roosa (US) and Tristan Coughlin* (US) on August 27, 2018 Posted in CCPA

This is the Data Protection Report’s third blog post in a series of CCPA blog posts that will break down the major elements of the CCPA which will culminate in a webinar on the CCPA in October. This blog focuses on the CCPA’s broad definition of Personal Information. Stay tuned for additional blogs and information … Continue reading

Overview of Thailand Draft Personal Data Protection Act

By Natpakal Rerknithi (TH), Anna Gamvros and Ruby Kwok (HK) on August 6, 2018 Posted in Regulatory response

Data protection laws in Asia continue to be introduced and updated. One of the most recent developments in South East Asia is in Thailand. On 22 May 2018, the Thai Cabinet approved in principle a revised draft of Thailand’s first personal data protection act (Draft Act). This Draft Act is currently under consideration by the … Continue reading

FCC TCPA order partially upheld and partially set aside

By Susan Ross (US) on March 17, 2018 Posted in Dispute resolution and litigation

Data Protection Report - digital privacy, CCPA and cybersecurity

On March 16, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its decision on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) omnibus order of 2015, relating to challenges to four of the FCC’s determinations relating to cell phones. The appellate court upheld the FCC’s determinations that consumers can revoke consent to receive … Continue reading

EU Data Package Highlights Connections between Data Protection and the Digital Single Market

By Jay Modrall (BE) on January 16, 2017 Posted in Data breach, General, Regulatory response

On January 10, 2017, the EU Commission published a package of documents on the EU’s data economy strategy, including e-privacy, data protection and the “European Data Economy.” The Commission documents, published in the context of the Commission’s digital single market (“DSM”) initiative announced in May 2015, illustrate again the strong links between the EU’s digital … Continue reading

Germany court held that Facebook’s “Like” button violates privacy laws

By on April 24, 2016 Posted in Compliance and risk management

Learn how Facebook's "like" button is rapidly growing into a social marketing tool that is tracking users’ IP addresses, browser strings and more. … Continue reading

Verizon Settles FCC Privacy Investigation Over Use of “Supercookies”

By on March 14, 2016 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Regulatory response

The FCC announced last week that it reached a settlement with Verizon Wireless (“Verizon”) over its use of “supercookies.” More specifically, the FCC alleged that Verizon inserted unique identifiers into the headers of its customers’ HTTP requests to support its targeted advertising programs, and that customers had not consented to this practice. In this post, we … Continue reading

FTC Orders PCI DSS Compliance Reports

By on March 9, 2016 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Regulatory response

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered nine companies to file Special Reports detailing how they assess their clients’ compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Payment card issuing companies require businesses that process over one million card transactions per year to undergo PCI DSS compliance assessments, or audits, performed by PCI Qualified … Continue reading

Belgian court orders Facebook to stop tracking non-members, rejects FB’s assertion of lack of jurisdiction

By Marcus Evans (UK) and Jay Modrall (BE) on November 23, 2015 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Dispute resolution and litigation

On November 9, 2015, the President of the Brussels Court of First Instance ordered Facebook to stop tracking non-members in Belgium without their consent. The court imposed a penalty of EUR 250,000 per day for non-compliance. The proceeding is the result of a formal recommendation that the Belgian Privacy Commission (BPC) issued in May 2015 … Continue reading

Third Circuit ruling reinstates state law privacy claims related to Google’s use of cookies

By on November 23, 2015 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Dispute resolution and litigation

In re: Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation, involves 24 consolidated lawsuits that were initially brought against several internet advertisers alleging violations of various state and federal privacy statutes, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Wiretap Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. In October of 2013, the District of Delaware dismissed … Continue reading

Reports suggest US-EU agreement on cross-border data transfers near, but will it stick?

By on October 29, 2015 Posted in Regulatory response

It is being reported that the EU and the US have reached an agreement in principle on the revised cross-border data transfer framework, commonly referred to as Safe Harbor 2.0. Both sides expect further progress on the specifics in November of this year. Some of the thornier issues, however,regarding US surveillance activities, that are critical to addressing the concerns … Continue reading

Five new privacy laws on tap in California

By on October 23, 2015 Posted in Regulatory response

This month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law five new privacy bills that the Governor said are intended to strengthen data protections for the state’s residents. The laws, effective as of January 1, 2016, implement California’s Electronic Communications Privacy Act and amend the state’s breach notification statute, among other things. In this post, our Data Protection, Privacy … Continue reading

WP29 Issues Post-Safe Harbor Guidance

By Marcus Evans (UK), Jamie Nowak (DE) and Jay Modrall (BE) on October 16, 2015 Posted in General

The following is the statement of WP29 on the Schrems decision. It is a short opinion that we replicated here in full. We note that WP29 appears to suggest that model clauses and BCRs remain viable through at least January 2016, which is when WP29 would like to see the US and EU agree to a … Continue reading

Schrems: ECJ invalidates the Commission’s Safe Harbor Decision

By Marcus Evans (UK), Jay Modrall (BE) and Jamie Nowak (DE) on October 6, 2015 Posted in Compliance and risk management

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Case C-362/14 (the Schrems case) earlier today, 6 October 2015. In its ruling, the ECJ – among other things – held that the EU Commission’s “US Safe Harbor” decision is invalid.… Continue reading

Schrems Counterpoint: ECJ has good reasons to reject Safe Harbor invalidation

By Jay Modrall (BE) and Marcus Evans (UK) on October 1, 2015 Posted in Regulatory response

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is expected to rule on Case C-362/14 (the “Schrems” case) on October 6, 2015. In deciding whether to reject or adopt its Advocate General’s recommendation to invalidate the US-EU Safe Harbor, the ECJ finds itself between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Rejecting the Safe Harbor would lead to uncertainty in the ongoing … Continue reading

European Court of Justice Advocate General’s Advisory Opinion in Schrems case questions validity of personal data transfers under EU/US Safe Harbor framework

By Marcus Evans (UK) on September 24, 2015 Posted in Compliance and risk management, General

On September 22, 2015, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) Advocate General issued an advisory Opinion in Case C-362/14 (the “Schrems” case). A key recommendation was for the ECJ to declare the EU/US Safe Harbor Agreement invalid. It remains to be seen whether the ECJ will follow this recommendation. The controversial nature of the Safe … Continue reading

Dutch Data Protection Authority publishes consultation version of guidelines on breach notice law

By Floortje Nagelkerke (NL) and Nikolai de Koning on September 24, 2015 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Data breach

On the heels of the enactment of the Dutch breach notice law, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (CBP) published a consultation document with draft guidelines on the breach notice obligation of data controllers in the Netherlands. Under the law, data controllers are required to provide notice of data breaches to the CBP and, under certain circumstances, to … Continue reading

Former Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddard to headline a privacy event at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Montreal office

By on September 23, 2015 Posted in General

On September 25, 2015, Jennifer Stoddard will visit Norton Rose Fulbright in Montreal to discuss the proposed sweeping reforms to Quebec’s legislation governing access to information and protection of personal information in the public sector. These reforms include proactive publication of government information at all levels, including studies and statistics in health and education and … Continue reading

Canada’s federal, British Columbia and Alberta privacy commissioners issue BYOD guidance

By Veronique Barry (CA) on September 20, 2015 Posted in Regulatory response

As the line between work and home becomes increasingly blurred, the federal, British Columbia and Alberta privacy commissioners have issued joint guidelines to help organizations reduce the risks of privacy breaches with respect to employers’ data accessed from employee-owned devices (EODs), while also securing employees’ privacy rights regarding any personal information stored on EODs.… Continue reading

Congress fails to act on cybersecurity information sharing act

By on August 7, 2015 Posted in Regulatory response

The relatively short turnaround of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA or the “Act”) has proved challenging, as a vote initially intended for this week will have to wait until the Senate’s September session, at the earliest.… Continue reading

Russia signs controversial “right to be forgotten” bill into law

By Vera Shaftan (RU) on July 23, 2015 Posted in Regulatory response

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law the “right to be forgotten” legislation, which allows individuals in Russia to demand removal of a search engine’s links to personal information deemed irrelevant or inadequate. The law will go into effect on January 1, 2016.… Continue reading

The Security, Privacy and Legal Implications of the Internet of Things (“IoT”) Part one – The Context and Use of IoT

By on May 19, 2015 Posted in Compliance and risk management, Data breach

Disrupted, yet again. The world is fast preparing for the invasion of objects connected to the Internet, otherwise known as the Internet of Things (“IoT”). IoT is here, and it will revolutionize how both individuals and corporations interact with the world. In this multi-part series we will explore this quickly evolving revolution and the privacy … Continue reading