Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On March 25, 2020, the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) sent a letter to the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (“DG CONNECT”) addressing the various initiatives involving telecommunications providers at the Member State level to monitor the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak using location data.

In GIR’s recently published Guide to Cyber Investigations, Hunton Andrews Kurth partner Aaron Simpson and associate Adam Solomon are featured as contributing authors to the chapter on Complying with Breach Notification Obligations in a Global Setting: A Legal Perspective.

On March 12, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP submitted formal comments to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) in response to its proposals for ensuring appropriate regulation of artificial intelligence (“AI”).

On April 2, 2020, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP will host a webinar on the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”): The CCPA Is Here—Are You Litigation-Ready? Most companies have now developed a framework for compliance with the CCPA. Having a compliance program in place is critical, and that includes preparing for the inevitable onslaught of class action litigation that is coming.

On March 18, 2020, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law a bill amending Washington State’s Agency Breach Notification Law (“Agency Breach Law”). The Agency Breach Law applies to all state and local agencies, including state and municipal offices, departments, bureaus and commissions.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the “Dutch DPA”) recently published materials regarding the COVID-19 crisis, including recommendations and FAQs for employers and recommendations for employees. In the materials, the Dutch DPA emphasizes that, while fighting the virus and saving lives is the top priority, privacy must not be overlooked and the crisis should not become a prelude to a “Big Brother” society.

On March 9, 2020, the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (“CBPR”) system Joint Oversight Panel approved the Philippines’ application to join the APEC CBPR system. The Philippines becomes the ninth APEC economy to join the CBPR system, joining the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Australia.

The Spanish Data Protection Authority (the “AEPD”) recently published a report on data processing activities carried out by data controllers in the private and public sectors as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 virus (the “Report”).

On March 21, 2020, the data security provisions of New York’s Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (“SHIELD Act”) went into effect. The SHIELD Act requires any person or business owning or licensing computerized data that includes the private information of a resident of New York (“covered business”) to implement and maintain reasonable safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of the private information.

The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a Bulletin on sharing and protecting patients’ protected health information (“PHI”) in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) during the COVID-19 national emergency. The Bulletin emphasizes that the HIPAA Privacy Rule is still in effect during this national emergency, but that HIPAA-covered entities may use or disclose patients’ PHI when necessary to treat a patient, to protect the nation’s public health and for other critical purposes.

The International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that NCC Group has been approved as a U.S. Accountability Agent under the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (“CBPR”) system. NCC Group joins TrustArc and Schellman as the third U.S. Accountability Agent under the CBPR and the sixth Accountability Agent approved under the system overall. NCC Group will now be able to independently assess and certify the compliance of U.S. companies under the APEC CBPR system and under the APEC Privacy Recognition for Processors (“PRP”), a corollary system to the CBPR specifically for processors.
On March 19, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP published a Q&A on the APEC CBPR and PRP systems. The Q&A is designed to explain the workings of both systems, who is currently participating in them and how interested companies can certify.

On March 13, 2020, the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the “Belgian DPA”) released a statement regarding workplace-related processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 crisis (the “Statement”).

To help facilitate data sharing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Privacy Assembly has begun compiling the latest guidance from data protection authorities around the world on data protection and data sharing. As of this blog post, the list contains guidance from 26 countries and territories across the globe as well the European Data Protection Board and the United Nations Special Rapporteurs. The list will be updated as additional guidance is provided.

On March 19, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published a new statement regarding processing personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. The EDPB said that emergency is a legal condition which may legitimize restrictions of individual freedoms, provided that these restrictions are proportionate and limited to the emergency period. Several considerations come into play in weighing the lawful processing of personal data in these circumstances.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) has published guidance regarding its expectations for controllers and health professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In its guidance for controllers, the ICO adopted a pragmatic stance, stating: “We know you might need to share information quickly or adapt the way you work. Data protection will not stop you doing that. It’s about being proportionate - if something feels excessive from the public’s point of view, then it probably is.”

The French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) recently issued guidance for employers relating to the processing of employee and visitor personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak (the “Guidance”). The Guidance outlines some of the principles relating to those data processing activities.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has dramatically changed the economy and working landscape of the United States and many other countries across the world. Companies suddenly find themselves dealing with a host of privacy issues and questions about sharing information with employees, customers and others. In addition, transitioning to a remote workforce can create privacy and data security concerns.

On March 19, 2020, the Irish Data Protection Authority (the “DPC”) published guidance to assist organizations in understanding their data security obligations and to mitigate their risks of a personal data breach when using cloud-based services (the “Guidance”).

On March 12, 2020, the Washington State Legislature passed SB 6280, which establishes safeguards for the use of facial recognition technology by state and local government agencies. Its stated goal is to allow the use of facial recognition services in ways that benefit society, but prohibit uses that put freedoms and civil liberties at risk.

On March 17, 2020, the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly (“GPA”) issued a statement giving their support to the sharing of personal data by organizations and governments for the purposes of fighting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The GPA brings together data protection regulators from over 80 countries and its membership currently consists of more than 130 data protection regulators around the world, including the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and the data protection regulators for all EU Member States.

On March 10, 2020, the Vermont Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Clearview AI (“Clearview”), alleging that Clearview violated Vermont’s consumer protection law and data broker law. We previously reported on Vermont’s data broker law, which was the first data broker legislation in the U.S.

On March 12, 2020, Senator Jerry Moran (KS) introduced a comprehensive federal privacy bill entitled the Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act of 2020 (the “Act”).

Hunton’s Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) reports on the top privacy-related priorities for this year:

1.  Global Convergence and Interoperability between Privacy Regimes

Around the world, new privacy laws are coming into force and outdated laws continue to be updated: the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), Brazil’s Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais (“LGPD”), Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, India’s and Indonesia’s proposed bills, California’s Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), and the various efforts in the rest of the United States at the federal and state levels. This proliferation of privacy laws is bound to continue.

On March 12, 2020, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) released its annual inspection strategy for 2020. The CNIL carries out approximately 300 inspections every year. These inspections are initiated (1) following complaints lodged with the CNIL; (2) in light of current topics in the news; (3) after the CNIL has adopted corrective measures (e.g., formal notices, sanctions) in order to verify whether the organization in question adopted the measures or remedied the situation; and (4) as part of the CNIL’s annual inspection strategy.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, on March 12, 2020, the Washington House and Senate were unable to reach consensus on the Washington Privacy Act.  As we reported this January, lawmakers in Washington state introduced a new version of the Washington Privacy Act, a comprehensive data privacy bill.  In the past two months, the much-discussed bill flew through the Washington Senate and House, but ultimately failed to pass.

The bill’s House version would have provided for a private right of action while the bill’s Senate version would have given sole enforcement authority to the state ...

On March 12, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”), in collaboration with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, published its legal note, “Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection: How the GDPR Regulates AI.”

On March 3, 2020, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the “Dutch DPA”) announced that it had imposed a €525,000 fine on the Royal Dutch Tennis Association (De Koninklijke Nederlandse Lawn Tennisbond, “KNLTB”) for an illegal sale of personal data.

On February 27, 2020, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP published the second report in its project on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Data Protection: Delivering Sustainable AI Accountability in Practice.

On March 4, 2020, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) fined the international airline Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (“Cathay Pacific”) £500,000 for failing to protect the security of its customers’ personal data. The fine was issued under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “DPA”) and represents the maximum fine available. The ICO found that between October 2014 and May 2018, Cathay Pacific’s computer systems lacked appropriate security measures which led to customers’ personal details being exposed. Of the approximately 9.4 million customers affected worldwide, 111,578 were from the UK.

On February 24, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published general policy messages and a synthesis of the contributions and replies by its members - national data protection authorities (“DPAs”) - to the Questionnaire on the Evaluation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) sent by the European Commission (the “Contribution”).

On March 2, 2020, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) fined CRDNN Limited, a lead generation company, £500,000—the maximum amount available for a breach of the Electronic Communications Regulations (“PECR”). The fine was imposed after CRDNN carried out over 193 million unsolicited automated direct marketing calls relating to window scrappage, window and conservatory sales, boiler sales, and debt management between June and October 2018.

On March 1, 2020, the Provisions on the Governance of Network Information Content Ecology (the “Provisions”) took effect. The Provisions govern China’s network information content ecology—including content producers (the “Producers”), content service platforms (the “Platforms”), content service users (the “Users”), industry organizations and Departments of Cyberspace Administration at all levels.

The District Court for the District of Columbia recently invalidated certain Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) rules regarding an individual’s access to their protected health information (“PHI”). The Court held that: (1) individuals can only direct their electronic PHI to third parties (and not hard copy PHI); and (2) the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) Omnibus Rule provisions regarding the caps on fees that HIPAA-covered entities may charge for such requests did not follow relevant administrative law procedures.

The meaning of an “automatic telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”) as defined by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) has been hotly contested since the D.C. Circuit invalidated the prior Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rulings interpreting the TCPA in 2018. The Ninth Circuit has held that merely calling numbers from a stored list is sufficient to meet the definition of an ATDS, while the Third Circuit has at least indicated that the ability to generate numbers randomly or sequentially is the defining characteristic.