On 18 May 2017, the European Commission (“Commission”) fined Facebook €110 million ($122 million) for misrepresentations made in its application for competition clearance of the company’s acquisition of WhatsApp. In its merger application, Facebook claimed that it would be unable to automatically match Facebook users’ accounts and WhatsApp users’ accounts for marketing and other purposes. […]
Data Protection
French CNIL Releases GDPR Compliance Toolkit
On March 15, 2017, the French data protection authority (CNIL) released its six step- GDPR compliance program together with GDPR-tailored templates for use by companies, the “GDPR Toolkit.” The GDPR Toolkit is helpful for companies because it provides guidance that companies may directly include in their privacy programs. Companies with sophisticated privacy programs may also […]
Working Party welcomes the draft ePrivacy Regulation, yet expresses grave concerns
The Working Party recently issued its first Opinion for 2017, focusing on the EU Commission’s proposed ePrivacy Regulation (WP 247, Opinion 01/2017). The Commission’s proposal, which was published in January this year, aims to modernize the existing ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC as amended by 2009/136/EC) which concerns the protection of personal data in the context of […]
May 30 is Fast Approaching – Are You Ready for Compliance with the Amended Act on Protection of Personal Information in Japan?
Japan’s Act on Protection of Personal Information currently in force (“Current APPI”) dates back to 2003. It was originally enacted on May 30, 2003, and came into effect in 2005. Ten years later, the National Diet passed extensive reforms to modernize the Current APPI in September, 2015. Although the Amended Act on Protection of Personal […]
Italy Imposes Record Data Protection Fines
On March 10, Italy’s data protection authority, Il Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (the “Garante”), announced that it had ordered fines totaling more than €11 million on five companies operating in the money transfers sector for breach of Italian data protection law. The sanctions have been described as the largest privacy fines ever […]