Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On November 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada declared the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) invalid because the legislation interfered with the right to freedom of expression in the labor context under Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Canadian Charter”). The case arose in the context of a labor union representing employees of a casino in Alberta. During a lawful strike, the union recorded and photographed individuals crossing the union’s picket line near the main entrance of the casino. The union had posted a sign that the images of persons crossing the picket line might be placed on a website. A number of individuals who were recorded crossing the picket line filed complaints under PIPA with the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner, who appointed an adjudicator to determine whether the union had contravened PIPA by collecting and disclosing personal information about individuals without their consent. Under PIPA, organizations cannot collect, use or disclose personal information without the individual’s consent, unless an exception applies.

On November 12, 2013, two companies (the “Defendants”) that provide consumer background reports to third parties, including criminal record checks agreed to an $18.6 million settlement stemming from allegations that they violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) when providing these reports to prospective employers.

On November 4, 2013, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, which is the Chinese regulatory and administrative authority for the insurance sector, issued the Interim Measures for the Management of the Authenticity of Information of Life Insurance Customers (the “Measures”). The Measures require life insurance companies and their agents to ensure the authenticity of personal data of life insurance policy holders. To help achieve this objective, the Measures impose rules for the collection, recording, management and use of the personal data of policy holders.

On November 19, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission held a workshop in Washington, D.C. to discuss The Internet of Things: Privacy & Security in a Connected World. FTC Chair Edith Ramirez and FTC Senior Attorney Karen Jagielski provided the opening remarks. Chairwoman Ramirez raised three key issues for workshop participants to consider:

On November 19, 2013, Hunton & Williams’ Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group hosted the second webcast in its Hunton Global Privacy Update series. The program focused on the latest updates regarding the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“Proposed Regulation”), including a discussion of the European Parliament’s recent approval of its Compromise Text for the Proposed Regulation.

The Luxembourg data protection authority (Commission nationale pour la protection des donées, “CNPD”) has stated that it will not investigate complaints relating to the alleged involvement of Microsoft Luxembourg (“Microsoft”) and Skype Software S.a.r.l. and Skype Communications S.a.r.l. (collectively, “Skype”) in the PRISM surveillance program. The PRISM surveillance program involves the transfer of EU citizens’ data to the U.S. National Security Agency (the “NSA”).

On November 14, 2013, the Minister of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (the “Minister”) announced that Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (the “Act”) would be going into effect as of November 15, marking the end of years of postponements. The following features of the law are of particular significance:

On November 13, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it denied a proposal submitted by AssertID, Inc. for a mechanism to obtain verifiable parental consent in accordance with the new Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (the “COPPA Rule”) that came into effect July 1, 2013.

On November 4, 2013, the data protection authority (“DPA”) of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate announced two sets of recommendations for mobile payment systems, including contactless payments. The recommendations were prepared in conjunction with the state consumer protection agency, the Ministry of Justice for Rhineland-Palatinate, the mobile payment industry and research organizations.

On November 13, 2013, Google entered into a $17 million settlement agreement with the attorneys general from 37 states and the District of Columbia related to allegations that the company bypassed users’ cookie-blocking settings on Apple’s Safari browser in 2011 and 2012. The settlement requires Google to refrain from bypassing cookie controls in the future and requires Google to maintain a page on its site informing users about cookies and how to manage them. Last year, Google agreed to a $22.5 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in connection with similar ...