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 […]
European Union (EU)
WP29 Announces a Common “Tool-Box” Approach to Handling of Complaints under the Right to be Forgotten
On September 18, 2014, the Article 29 Working Party (the “WP29”) issued a press release, announcing that the European data protection authorities agreed on a common “tool-box” approach to handling complaints lodged due to search engines’ refusal to remove complainant’s entries from their search results. In a landmark ruling on May 13, 2014, the Court […]
CDD Urges FTC to Investigate 30 Companies for Alleged Safe Harbor Violations
The Center for Digital Democracy (“CDD”), a private consumer privacy advocate, recently filed a complaint and “request for investigation” before the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) accusing 30 U.S. companies of violating provisions of the Safe Harbor framework. The 118-page complaint, filed August 14th, urges the FTC to take legal action against the companies, including Adobe […]
District Judge Upholds Decision Requiring Microsoft to Provide Irish Data to U.S. Investigators
On July 31, Federal District Judge Loretta A. Preska (Southern District of New York) upheld the decision of a magistrate judge requiring Microsoft to turn over the contents of customer email stored in Ireland to U.S. investigators. The magistrate’s April decision was previously discussed on this blog. Federal investigators had obtained a warrant for the email […]
American Apparel Settles FTC Charge on Falsely Claiming Compliance with Safe Harbor Privacy Framework
On May 9, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) announced that American Apparel, Inc. (“American Apparel”) agreed to settle FTC charges that American Apparel falsely claimed it was compliant with the U.S.-European Union Safe Harbor (the “US-EU Safe Harbor Framework”). The FTC’s complaint alleged that American Apparel, a clothing manufacturer and retailer with more than 200 […]