News

On April 16, 2019, the European Parliament informed that it decided to create the Common Identity Repository (CIR). The CIR will interconnect a series of data systems (listed below) into a gigantic biometric database containing data about EU and non-EU citizens to improve data exchange between EU information systems to manage borders, security and migration. […]

On April 24, 2019, Facebook published its financial results for the first quarter, where it estimated a probable loss and recorded an accrual of $3 billion  in connection with an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission  (FTC).  The investigation could result in a penalty of up to 5 billion. The FTC began its investigation into […]

On November 9, 2019, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted guidelines on the GDPR’s lawful basis for processing. In particular, the EDPB provided guidance on the “contractual necessity basis for processing personal data in the context of online services.” Guidelines 2/2019 on the processing of personal data under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR in the context […]

  With a decision published on March 18, 2019, the Danish Privacy Authority, Datatilsynet (DPA), found that a Danish Taxi App – Taxa 4×35 – did not respect the principle of data minimization envisaged by the GDPR (art. 5.1(c)), keeping the personal data of the customers beyond the expected retention period. The company deleted the […]

  Bahrain. Bahrain enacted Law No. 30, 2018, the law protecting personal data (Data Protection Law), which goes into force on August 1, 2019. Bahrain has several other laws with provisions relating to data protection, including: Law No. 16, 2014, regarding the Protection of Information and State Documents; Law No. 2, 2017, for Ratifying the Arab Agreement in Combating […]

  On April 9, 2019, the UK Data Protection Authority, the Information Commissioner Officer (ICO), served a monetary penalty notice under section 55A of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) of around $ 520,000. The fined company (Bounty) shared the personal data of over 14 million individuals to a number of organizations including credit reference […]

On March 27, 2019, the Utah Governor signed H.B.57 into law. The Bill modifies provisions related to privacy of electronic information or data and their access by law enforcement. H.B 57 defines electronic information and data as being any “information or data including a sign, signal, writing, image, sound, or intelligence of any nature transmitted […]

On February 25, 2019, an Illinois Senator introduced SB2134 to amend the Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14/1 et seq., BIPA) creating a  private right of action. The bill is currently in Committee. The majority of BIPA claims have been brought against businesses as class actions seeking statutory damages.   Synopsis Amends the Biometric […]

On March 20, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a judgment of the Ninth Circuit and remanded it for further proceedings “Because there remain substantial questions about whether any of the named plaintiffs has standing to sue in light of our decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U. S. ___ (2016).” By way of […]

On April 4, 2019, the Australian parliament approved the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material Bill, which amended the Criminal Code. The bill was approved after Christchurch terrorist attack to ensure that online platforms cannot be exploited by perpetrators of violence. The attack in March 2019 demonstrated the potential for live streaming to be abused by […]