As has been widely reported, in late January the French privacy supervisor CNIL fined Google €50 million for privacy violations relating to targeted marketing using Android user data. One of the core violations the CNIL found was that Google’s Android user interface did not obtain effective, GDPR-compliant consent to targeted marketing from users. The amount of the Google fine startled many companies, but with time the shock faded. Google was seen as a special case, and a number of companies began to presume that, while scrutiny of targeted online marketing may pick up, “we’re not […] Read more
On February 16, 2018, the Brussels Court of First Instance rendered a judgment in proceedings brought by the Belgian Privacy Commission’s against Facebook. The case forms one part of two-tiered litigation brought by the Commission in regards to alleged monitoring practices vis-à-vis Belgian internet users. In parallel to the proceedings that resulted in the judgment cited above, the Belgian Privacy Commission had also initiated a procedure referred to as “summary proceedings” against Facebook – and Facebook defeated the Privacy Commission’s claim before the Brussels Court of Appeal in [...] Read more
“To Harmonize or Not To Harmonize: That Is the Question.” With the the GDPR fast approaching on May 25, 2018, European Member States are getting ready with the implementation of national legislation. Although the GDPR is a regulation, and directly applicable in all Member States, it has left room for country-specific legislation in several different regards (such as the processing of employee data or individual rights restrictions). Most Member States still only have draft legislation at this point, but the expectation (or at least intention) is that each country will have adopted legislation [...] Read more
About this time last January, the European Parliament released its proposal for a new ePrivacy Regulation. The intent of the ePrivacy Regulation is to replace the current ePrivacy regime – which consists of an ePrivacy Directive and a patchwork of local implementing legislation – with a uniform set of directly-applicable EU-wide rules. Since the Parliament released its ePrivacy Regulation draft, both the European Council and the European Parliament have reviewed it and released their own revised drafts.
The ePrivacy Regulation contains a number of important rules for companies. Traditionally, [...] Read more
On October 18, 2017, the Article 29 Working Party (the “WP29”) published Guidelines clarifying the new profiling and automated decision-making provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). European Union regulatory authorities and the WP29 consider that technological developments that facilitate the creation of individual profiles, such as big data analytics, AI and machine learning, have created new risks to data protection. As the majority of industries (insurance, marketing and finance, and even healthcare) already apply and use these new techniques today, the WP29 [...] Read more
On April 29, Alston & Bird’s Los Angeles office hosted a Privacy Program on Mobile Behavioral Tracking. Dominique Shelton of Alston & Bird moderated a panel that consisted of Alston & Bird attorneys Peter Swire and David Keating and industry professionals from the Office of the Attorney General, California Department of Justice, Ghostery Inc. and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. The panelists discussed new tools, opportunities & risks of mobile behavioral tracking, and text messaging campaign. The discussion included the benefits, and regulatory and litigation risks of using [...] Read more
The European Union’s Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (WP29) adopted an opinion (the Opinion) on September 16, 2014 regarding data protection within the Internet of Things (IoT). Recognizing the rapid growth of the IoT, the Opinion responds to emerging data privacy concerns within the IoT, and provides recommendations for stakeholder compliance with EU data protection laws.
The IoT is made up of the universe of “smart” devices and applications that communicate with each other electronically. The Opinion focuses on a subset of three IoT applications: 1) “wearable [...] Read more
Dominique Shelton, partner in Alston and Bird’s Privacy & Data Security practice and member of the Litigation and Trial Practice group, authored an article appearing on June 19 in International Association of Privacy Professionals’ (IAPP) Privacy Advisor titled, “Court Denies Class-Action in Hulu Case, But There’s More.” In the article, Shelton discusses the Hulu consumer class-action case that has been ongoing since July 2011. Shelton points out that any company that hosts video content on its website or mobile app and includes a “Like” button [...] Read more
In follow up to our previous blog, California AG Kamala Harris Issues Privacy Policy Guidance: Making Your Privacy Practices Public Contains Draft Tips for Website and Online Service Privacy Policies, regarding the release of the AG’s report, please see our recently released client advisory providing a detailed analysis of the new privacy guidance: California Attorney General Kamala Harris Releases Long-Anticipated Guidance Regarding Privacy Policy Notices . As conceived, the Report is designed to apply to all businesses, regardless of the country or state in which they operate, based on the [...] Read more
Today, California Attorney General Kamala Harris released her long-anticipated guidance on privacy policies for companies collecting information from California residents in a report entitled Making Your Privacy Practices Public (the “Report”). While the Report exceeds existing law in many respects, affected companies should take heed to review the report and be familiar with its contents as it sets forth a blue print for how the CA AG’s office views “best practices” in connection with privacy policy drafting in the areas of “Big Data,” behavioral tracking, data security, and the [...] Read more
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