Amid fresh fears about data protection, on November 14th, France’s data protection authority, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) published a checklist of recommended actions travellers should take to secure phones, computers and tablets when travelling outside the European Union. Read the full article on International Employment Lawyer ..read more

A new legal mechanism to allow for transfers of personal data between the EU and the U.S. is now advancing after an October 7th, 2022 Executive Order was issued by U.S. President Biden (the “Executive Order”). The new mechanism is referred to as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (the “Framework”) and is intended to replace the now-defunct EU-U.S. Privacy Shield mechanism. Specifically, the Executive Order provides data protections that enables the potential creation of the Framework, which first debuted in a joint press conference in March 2022. Similar progress has also been made on an equiv ..read more

The UK Supreme Court handed down its much-anticipated decision in the Lloyd v Google LLC [2021] UKSC 50 case on 10 November 2021 restricting claimants’ ability to bring data privacy class actions in the UK under the (now repealed) Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998). This decision will be persuasive (though not binding) with respect to similar class actions brought under the (in-force) UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively, the UK GDPR). This decision will not directly impact litigation brought under the EU General Data Protection Regulation in EU ..read more

Since the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) came into effect in May 2018 there have been numerous high-profile enforcement actions (~US$880m is the largest GDPR fine to-date) and private litigation (including class-action type claims). Notable fines have included the ~US$25m fine levied in October 2020 by the UK’s GDPR regulator against Marriott International for alleged cybersecurity failures in connection with its acquisition of Starwood Hotels. Still, the GDPR exposure for corporate groups and the private equity (“PE”) industry (whether or not established in Europe) continues t ..read more

On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Privacy Shield, ruling, among other things, that U.S. domestic law governing law enforcement access to transferred data does not satisfy the GDPR’s requirements because, as the Court stated, U.S. surveillance programs are not limited to “what is strictly necessary to achieve the legitimate objective in question”. In a separate portion of the opinion, however, the CJEU upheld as valid Commission Decision 2010/87 on standard contractual clause ..read more

It has been reported that European Commission will publish the final versions of new forms of Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”) shortly (even potentially within the next few days). The Commission published draft versions of these SCCs and the implementing Commission Decisions in December 2020. These new SCCs are, arguably, the most significant development in European data protection law since the coming into force of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in May 2018, which was three years ago this month.  These new SCCs will replace prior versions of the SCCs, some of whi ..read more

GDPR fines are seemingly like buses, you wait over a year for enforcement action by the UK’s data supervisory authority, the ICO, and then two come along at once – and with quite dramatic effect. The ICO has stretched its wings and in recent days has issued two notices of intent to fine following investigations. The companies in question can now make representations in an attempt to reduce the fines. Once the ICO issues a penalty notice, the companies can again appeal those fines. The companies in question are firstly, British Airways, where the ICO has issued a notice of intent to fine the co ..read more

On April 30, 2020, the French data protection authority, the CNIL, published a guidance surrounding considerations behind what it calls “commercial prospecting,” meaning scraping publicly available website data to obtain individuals’ contact info for purposes of selling such data to third parties for direct marketing purposes.  The guidance is significant in two respects.  First, it speaks to the CNIL’s view of this activity in the context of the GDPR and privacy concerns.  Second, beyond the context of direct marketing related privacy issues, the guidance lays out some guiding ..read more

In late March, the French Data Protection Authority, Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (“CNIL”) released a model regulation (the “Model Regulation”) governing the use of biometric access controls in the workplace.  Unlike many items of personal information, biometric data (such as a person’s face or fingerprints) is unique and, if stolen or otherwise compromised, cannot be changed to avoid misuse.  Under Article 9 of the GDPR, biometric data collected “for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person” is considered “sensitive” and warrants additional prot ..read more

With less than a month to go until the UK is due to leave the EU (at 11pm GMT/12pm CET on 29 March 2019), there is still much uncertainty as to whether, and if so how, the UK will exit the EU (commonly dubbed “Brexit”). In light of this uncertainty we outline what will happen, and what should be considered, depending on how things play out especially given the important votes due to take place within the UK Parliament this week. What happens if there is a deal? Currently, as the UK is part of the EU and so has implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), there are unrestric ..read more