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Based on a hypothetical situation in which an attorney – mistakenly believing that the existing clawback agreement is broader than it is and would allow recovery of inadvertently produced material –  agrees with opposing counsel that his client’s database could be searched with search terms that the opposing counsel suggests.  Attorney does not review material […]

European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) held that Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC requires national supervisory authorities for the protection of personal data to operate with complete independence in the exercise of their duties. Hungary failed to fulfill such obligations by prematurely ending the term served by its national supervisory authority. Mr. András Jóri had been appointed […]

The number of social media has increased tremendously during the last years. Is it ok for employers to ask their employees to turn over usernames or passwords for their personal accounts? Employers argue that access to personal accounts would protect proprietary information or trade secrets, help them comply with federal financial regulations, or prevent exposure […]

Law firms cyber security has been under scrutiny recently. Many corporate clients (for example banks) are worried that law firms (even the Biglaw firms) might not have the same level of cyber security that they have and may be attacked as the weakest link in a company’s data security chain (especially from Russia and China). […]

On March 25, 2014, Brazil’s Camara dos Deputados passed a bill ( so-called “Marco Civil da Internet” – Bill of Law 2,126/2011 now submitted for approval to the Senado Federal) which contains several provisions aiming at increasing protection of Brazialians’ personal data. Companies based anywhere in the world offering services to Brazilians will have to […]

On February 18, 2014, the Court held that Italian notaries must disclose, if requested, to her Association of pertinence the deeds she issued. Because both the notary and the Notary Association have some public authority, the exchange of data between them is allowed. The Notary Association has an inspecting power to verify the documents issued […]

In January 2014, a bill was introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy to establish stronger data privacy standards for businesses. The bill full title is: “To prevent and mitigate identity theft, to ensure privacy, to provide notice of security breaches, and to enhance criminal penalties, law enforcement assistance, and other protections against security […]

On February 3, 2014 the Italian Court of Cassazione deposited the full text of the decision with which on December 17, 2013 it acquitted Google managers of the crime of unauthorized data processing (it was a case of cyber-bullyism).  The Court held that managers of an Internet hosting provider are not criminally responsible because the […]

In her weekly podcast Angela Merkel proposes to build up a European communication network that would avoid passing e-mails and data through countries where the EU data protection law does not apply, which is to say, in Chancellor Merkel’s opinion, countries with a lower level of data protection (among which she lists to the United States […]

In December 2013 and January 2014, respectively the Data Protection Authorities of Spain and France sanctioned Google for privacy violation, imposing fines of EUR 300,000 and EUR 150,000. The background: In 2012 Google announced its decision to replace the individual privacy policies of each of its products and services with a single privacy policy. A […]