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In Data Privacy

2020 Global Data Protection Boot Camp Highlights

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Partners Brian Hengesbaugh and Harry Valetk hosted Practising Law Institute’s Global Data Protection Boot Camp 2020. The program – now in its fifth year – brings together individuals charged with formulating their organization’s global privacy compliance strategy. Harry Valetk chaired the 4-hour* program, which has been designed to help privacy practitioners within every organization – legal, compliance, IT security, and audit –obtain practical information and gain insights into key substantive and procedural compliance recommendations in relation…

In Data Privacy

Treasury Department Advisory Warns Potential Sanctions Risk for Ransomware Payouts

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued an advisory to alert companies about potential sanctions risks when making payments in response to ransomware attacks. The advisory is in response to the demand for ransomware payments during the COVID-19 pandemic as cyber criminals have severely debilitated systems that merchants rely on to continue to conduct business. A Threat to National Security Ransomware is a form of malicious software designed…

In Data Privacy

New US Commerce Department Guidance on Government Data Access Safeguards

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In response to the July 16, 2020 Schrems II ruling from the European Court of Justice, the US Department of Commerce has issued a formal “Standard Contractual Clauses” White Paper to help organizations assess whether their transfers offer appropriate data protection in accordance with the ECJ’s ruling outlining the robust limits and safeguards in the United States for government access to data. Government data access safeguards post-Schrems II Following the Schrems II ruling, organizations that…

In Data Privacy

The impact ‘Schrems II’ has on controller-to-controller SCCs

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In its “Schrems II” opinion issued July 16, the Court of Justice of the European Union did not reach any findings on the EU Commission’s decisions 2001/497/EC or 2004/915/EC, i.e., the standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to controllers. However, the rationale behind the CJEU’s ruling on the controller-to-processor SCCs, as well as on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, suggests two things with respect to controller-to-controller SCCs: The additional measures for transfers under C2P SCCs…

In Data Privacy

Federal Circuit Finds Fourth Amendment Does Not Protect Bitcoin Data

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Digital assets vary. They can be a virtual currency that has no analog in the real world, and exists only on the blockchain used as a substitute for money. For this reason, virtual currencies are generally considered to be secure and offering a high degree of privacy. A recent decision from a US federal court of appeals, however, may cast a different light on this generally held view. USA v. Gratkowski In United States v.…

In Data Privacy

France’s Contact Tracing App: CNIL issues its second opinion on StopCovid’s implementation

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Launched on June 2, the French mobile tracing app for COVID-19, “StopCovid,” has been voluntarily downloaded by 1.9 million users within three weeks. On June 3, the French Data Protection Authority (the CNIL) published its second opinion on StopCovid, relating to the implementation of the app and the related Executive Decree No. 2020-650 and to the Government’s data protection impact assessment. Following its first opinion of April 24, on the principle of the use of a…

In Data Privacy

Contact Tracing Apps in Canada: Province of Alberta launches, and Federal Government Announces Nationwide Initiative

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On May 1, 2020, the Province of Alberta launched ABTraceTogether, an Android and iOS compatible contact tracing app users voluntarily download for tracing and notifying users who may have been exposed to COVID-19. ABTraceTogether is used by Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services (AHS) to supplement manual contact tracing completed by public health officials. ABTraceTogether was announced just prior to the issuance in May 2020 of joint guidance by the federal and provincial privacy commissioners…

In California Privacy Law

CPRA Set for November Ballot

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For those privacy buffs following the status of the California Privacy Rights Act ballot initiative (CPRA), today is the much-anticipated deadline to officially decide whether the CPRA will qualify for the Fall 2020 ballot in November. The final answer? Yes, it will. Background CPRA (which was introduced by the Californians for Consumer Privacy in January 2020) is a ballot initiative that would both expand the scope of the existing California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and…

In Data Privacy

Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD) Postponed

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Brazil’s government has decided to postpone the effective date of its new comprehensive data protection law. On June 12, 2020, the Brazilian government published Law No. 14,010/20, which postpones the effective date of articles 52, 53, and 54 of the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD) to August 1, 2021. Those articles establish administrative sanctions that may be applied by the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) for LGPD violations. Background and Effect of Brazilian General…

In California Privacy Law

California Attorney General Submits CCPA Proposed Regulations for Expedited Review

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On June 1, 2020, in a surprise, last-minute filing, the office of the California Attorney General submitted the final CCPA final California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) proposed regulations to the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL). What does this mean for businesses subject to the CCPA? Under normal circumstances, the OAL would have 30 days to review the proposed regulations for procedural compliance with California’s Administrative Procedure Act; however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this timeframe…

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