Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On July 16, 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (the “MIIT”) issued a new rule entitled Provisions on the Registration of Real Identity Information of Telephone Users (the “Provisions”), which will take effect on September 1, 2013. The Provisions were issued pursuant to the Resolution of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Relating to Strengthening the Protection of Information on the Internet (the “Resolution”) and the Telecommunications Regulations of the People’s Republic of China. In April 2013, the MIIT issued a draft of the Provisions and solicited public comment.

On July 16, 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (the “MIIT”) issued a new rule entitled Provisions on the Protection of Personal Information of Telecommunications and Internet Users (the “Provisions”). The Provisions, which will take effect on September 1, 2013, are intended to implement the general requirements set forth in last December’s Resolution of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Relating to Strengthening the Protection of Information on the Internet (the “Resolution”). The Provisions are the first specific regulations concerning personal information protection by telecommunications service providers in China.

On July 22-23, 2013, the APEC E-Commerce Business Alliance and the China International Electronic Commerce Center, a subsidiary organization of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, held a seminar in Beijing entitled Workshop on the Online Data Privacy Protection in APEC Region. In addition to delegates from Mainland China, representatives from numerous other jurisdictions were in attendance, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

On July 24, 2013, the Conference of the German Data Protection Commissioners at both the Federal and State levels issued a press release stating that surveillance activities by foreign intelligence and security agencies threaten international data traffic between Germany and countries outside the EEA.

On July 18-19, 2013, the European Union Justice and Home Affairs Council held an informal meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, openly criticized the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.

On July 12, 2013, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced that she sent letters to operators of eight popular health-related websites requesting information about the websites’ online data collection practices. The Attorney General’s press release underscored how individuals’ health-related information shared online, which would be protected if disclosed in a traditional medical setting, “can be captured, shared and sold when online users enter their information into a website.” The Attorney General also stated that “website disclosure about the extent to which information is captured or shared is buried in privacy policies not found on the websites’ main pages.”

On July 12, 2013, during the Centre for Information Policy Leadership’s First Friday call, José Alejandro Bermúdez Durana, Deputy Superintendent for Data Protection for Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, discussed the secondary regulations issued on June 27, 2013 to implement Colombia’s omnibus data protection law enacted in 2012. The Deputy Superintendent discussed key aspects of the regulations, and provided information regarding additional regulations that are needed to implement binding codes of conduct.

On June 25, 2013, the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the “Privacy Commission”) and the Belgian Ministry of Justice agreed on a Protocol establishing new rules for the approval of international data transfer agreements.

Senior Attorney Rosemary Jay reports from London:

On June 25, 2013, Advocate-General Jääskinen of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) delivered his Opinion in Google Spain S.L. and Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Case C-131/12, “Google v AEPD” or the “case”).

The case concerns Google Search results, and whether individuals have a right to erasure of search result links about them. The Opinion concludes that under current law, individuals have no such right. The European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”) would introduce a right to be forgotten. However, this Opinion appears to demonstrate unease with the basic concept of such a right.

In a recording prepared for the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP’s (“Centre’s”) annual retreat, former UK Information Commissioner and Centre Global Strategy Advisor Richard Thomas discussed some of the challenges facing Big Data with respect to the purpose limitation principle set out in Article 6(1)(b) of the current EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. In April 2013, the Article 29 Working Party adopted an Opinion on this topic, focusing on how to apply the purpose limitation principle in the Big Data context. Richard Thomas ...

The American Bar Association Journal is compiling a list of the 100 best legal blogs of 2013 and is inviting readers to submit nominations. Click the voting button below to submit a nomination for Hunton & Williams’ Privacy and Information Security Law. PR News named Hunton & Williams’ Privacy Blog the Best Legal PR Blog of 2011.

Submissions are accepted through August 9, so please vote!

On July 11, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced a resolution agreement and $1.7 million settlement with WellPoint Inc. following a security breach that affected over 600,000 individuals.

On June 5, 2013, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied an employer’s motion to dismiss, holding that the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) can apply when an employer reads a former employee’s personal emails on a company-issued mobile device that was returned when the employment relationship terminated. The defendants, Verizon Wireless (“Verizon”) and the manager who allegedly read the plaintiff’s emails, argued that the SCA applies only to computer hacking scenarios, and that the plaintiff authorized the reading of her personal emails. The court rejected both of the arguments, finding:

On June 27, 2013, the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism issued regulations pursuant to the country’s new data protection law. The regulations, entitled Decreto Número 1377 de 2013, por el cual se reglamenta parcialmente la Ley 1581 de 2012, address a variety of topics, including the following:

• Consent requirements relating to the collection of personal data;
• Restrictions on the processing of children’s personal data;
• Content and delivery of privacy notices;
• Cross-border data transfer restrictions;
• Data transfer agreements;
• Internal privacy ...

On June 28, 2013, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (“FDPIC”) issued its 20th annual Report of Activities (the “Report”), highlighting the FDPIC’s main activities during the period from April 2012 to March 2013. The Report is available in French and in German, and the FDPIC also has prepared a summary of the Report in English.

On July 4, 2013, the European Parliament adopted new EU legislation to fight cyber crime. The Directive on attacks against information systems (the “Directive”) (see the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs’ report tabled for plenary), together with the launch of the European Cybercrime Centre and the adoption of the EU cybersecurity strategy, will strengthen the EU’s overall response to cyber crime and contribute to improving cybersecurity for all EU citizens.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (“ITA”) will host a data privacy seminar in Providence, Rhode Island, on Thursday, July 18 from 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. EDT. Seminar participants will hear from Commerce privacy experts who will discuss the Obama Administration’s privacy blueprint and provide updates on significant international developments, including the U.S.-EU and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) group’s work to implement the Cross-Border Privacy Rules System. These privacy developments could have a significant impact on how companies comply with laws and privacy regulations in the United States, Asia and Europe. A representative from the Safe Harbor-certified company Textron Inc. (“Textron”) also will discuss the company’s experience developing and implementing a privacy compliance program.

On July 3, 2013, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) released its decision in a case against PS Consulting, imposing a fine of €10,000 on the information systems consulting company for violations related to the operation of its CCTV system.

On July 2, 2013, the Indian government released its ambitious National Cyber Security Policy 2013. The development of the policy was prompted by a variety of factors, including the growth of India’s information technology industry, an increasing number of cyber attacks and the country’s “ambitious plans for rapid social transformation.” The policy sets forth 14 diverse objectives that range from enhancing the protection of India’s critical infrastructure, to assisting the investigation and prosecution of cyber crime, to developing 500,000 skilled cybersecurity professionals over the next five years.

On July 1, 2013, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) issued a preliminary draft outline of the Cybersecurity Framework that is being developed pursuant to the Obama Administration’s February 2013 executive order, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the “Executive Order”).

Today, July 1, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission’s changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (the “Rule”) officially come into effect. On December 19, 2012, the FTC announced that it had published the amended Rule following two years of public comments and multiple reviews of various proposed changes.

On July 1, 2013, the Republic of Croatia joined the European Union, increasing the number of EU Member States to 28. As of the day of its accession, Croatia must implement the acquis communautaire (the complete body of the EU legislation), which includes the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (“Data Protection Directive”).