News stories posted during 2018

e-privacy Regulation not ready to coincide with GDPR implementation

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It is hoped that the Trilogue on the EU e-privacy Regulation will start after the summer recess, the rapporteur for the European Parliament on e-privacy Regulation, MEP Birgitta Sippel said yesterday at the CPDP conference in Brussels. She said th...

Challenges ahead for the European Data Protection Board

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The retiring Chair of the EU Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, who is the President of France’s CNIL (data protection commission), said that some national DPAs have expressed concern over the slow progress with...

Telecom Italy fined 840,000 euros for marketing calls without consent

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The Garante, Italy’s Data Protection Commission, has issued an administrative fine of Euros 840,000 for breaching Italy’s Privacy Code. Telecom Italia had made promotional telephone calls without consent to former customers who had not given...

Belgian Court rules for Belgium’s Data Protection Commission against Facebook

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In a decisive ruling, the Brussels Court of First Instance ruled on 16th February in an 84 page judgement that Facebook must stop placing cookies on users’ computers unless: 1 - It has informed users “in a clear and comprehensive manner, fully and...

CNIL flexible on enforcement of new obligations for first months of GDPR regime

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France’s Data Protection Authority, the CNIL, announced last month that in the first months of implementation of the GDPR, it may not sanction beaches of new obligations or rights resulting from the GDPR, such as the right to data portability and...

EDPS calls for cooperation between DPAs, electoral regulators and audio-visual regulators

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In the aftermath of the recent Cambridge Analytica and Facebook revelations, Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), said: “The solution is to be found beyond content management and transparency, though they may help where...

Facebook shifts 1.5 billion users to avoid GDPR

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In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, Facebook has decided to modify its terms and conditions so that data of 1.5 billion Facebook users, managed from its European headquarters in Ireland, will now be administered by its US...

Which countries will meet the GDPR deadline?

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This was one of the questions discussed yesterday at Privacy Laws & Business’s conference, Almost there: GDPR National Implementation. Hosted in London by Latham & Watkins LLP (L&W), the conference covered GDPR developments in Spain, Poland, Franc...

EDPB ready to operate from 25 May, Buttarelli says

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The European Data Protection Board is ready to start its work immediately when the GDPR enters into force on 25 May 2018. Speaking at the ASSODPO conference in Milan today, European Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli said that the gro...

Council of Europe modernises Convention 108

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The Council of Europe adopted, on 18 May, an Amending Protocol which updates its data protection convention, known as “Convention 108”. The modernisation brings the Convention into line with the EU Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and now require...

EDPB starts work and appoints Austria’s DPA as its head

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The Chair of the European Data Protection Board, (EDPB), Ms Andrea Jelinek, Head of Austria’s Data Protection Authority, said that the Board is fully functioning, despite the fact that not all EU Member States have managed to adopt GDPR adaptation...

New analysis shows faults with Facebook’s and Google’s GDPR privacy updates

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The Norwegian Consumer Council says that Facebook and Google steer users into sharing vast amounts of information about themselves, through cunning design, privacy invasive defaults, and “take it or leave it” choices. The Council analysed the...

DPAs: Full steam ahead at the European Data Protection Board

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The GDPR’s cooperation and consistency mechanism will now be put to a test at the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) which is already dealing with more than 20 cross-border cases. Willem Debeuckelaere, Vice-Chair, EDPB, said at PL&B’s conferenc...

Japan and EU conclude talks on adequacy

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Japan and the EU have agreed to recognise each other's data protection systems as 'equivalent', which will allow data to flow safely and legally between them. The EU and Japan today agreed to create the world's largest area of safe data flows, the...

More EU Member States moving toward GDPR implementation

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France’s data protection law was adopted on 20 June and published on 21 June. In Spain , due to a change of government, the new DP Law is still on hold. In the first week of August, the Government approved an urgent regulation appointing Spain’s...

Brazil adopts a new GDPR-style data protection law

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Inspired by the EU GDPR, Brazil’s General Data Protection Law requires controllers to notify data breaches, appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO), and follow new, stronger consent requirements. The law, which applies both to the private and publ...

Argentina publishes GDPR-style data protection bill

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Argentina is on its way to modernise its data protection law. The President sent the data protection bill to Argentina’s Congress on 19 September. Argentina was declared as ‘adequate’ by the EU Commission under the EU DP Directive 1995, but...

First significant GDPR fines in the pipeline

The European Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli, says that we can expect to see DPAs take enforcement action soon, Buttarelli told Reuters in an interview: “I expect [the] first GDPR fines for some cases by the end of the year. Not...

EDPB dealing with 162 cross border cases but no fines issued as yet

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has by now 162 cross-border cases on its case register, the Board’s Chair Andrea Jelinek said in Brussels today. She would not confirm when the first large fines would be issued - ‘we are investigating’ sh...

DPAs debate data ethics in Brussels at their 40th Conference and adopt AI declaration

The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (ICDPPC), which convened in Brussels this week, has adopted a declaration on ethics and data protection in artificial intelligence (AI). The DPAs are determined to contribut...

Finland updates its DP law according to the GDPR

Finland finally adopted its new GDPR-style law on 13 November. The delay was partly caused by deliberations on the role of the Data Protection Ombudsman (equivalent of Privacy Commissioner) in imposing administrative fines. It was argued that to...

Spain approves GDPR-style law but not yet in force 

Spain’s Senate approved last week the law that will complement the GDPR. The text of the law has not yet been published. The adoption of the law has been delayed because, among other reasons, Spain’s legislature took the opportunity to add...

Second Annual Review confirms that EU-US Privacy Shield continues uninterrupted

The EU Commission’s review says that the US continues to ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred under the Privacy Shield from the EU to participating companies in the US. The report, issued yesterday, says that the...