Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (“ITA”) will host a data privacy seminar in Providence, Rhode Island, on Thursday, July 18 from 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. EDT. Seminar participants will hear from Commerce privacy experts who will discuss the Obama Administration’s privacy blueprint and provide updates on significant international developments, including the U.S.-EU and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) group’s work to implement the Cross-Border Privacy Rules System. These privacy developments could have a significant impact on how companies comply with laws and privacy regulations in the United States, Asia and Europe. A representative from the Safe Harbor-certified company Textron Inc. (“Textron”) also will discuss the company’s experience developing and implementing a privacy compliance program.

On July 3, 2013, the French Data Protection Authority (“CNIL”) released its decision in a case against PS Consulting, imposing a fine of €10,000 on the information systems consulting company for violations related to the operation of its CCTV system.

On July 2, 2013, the Indian government released its ambitious National Cyber Security Policy 2013. The development of the policy was prompted by a variety of factors, including the growth of India’s information technology industry, an increasing number of cyber attacks and the country’s “ambitious plans for rapid social transformation.” The policy sets forth 14 diverse objectives that range from enhancing the protection of India’s critical infrastructure, to assisting the investigation and prosecution of cyber crime, to developing 500,000 skilled cybersecurity professionals over the next five years.

On July 1, 2013, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) issued a preliminary draft outline of the Cybersecurity Framework that is being developed pursuant to the Obama Administration’s February 2013 executive order, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the “Executive Order”).

Today, July 1, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission’s changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (the “Rule”) officially come into effect. On December 19, 2012, the FTC announced that it had published the amended Rule following two years of public comments and multiple reviews of various proposed changes.

On July 1, 2013, the Republic of Croatia joined the European Union, increasing the number of EU Member States to 28. As of the day of its accession, Croatia must implement the acquis communautaire (the complete body of the EU legislation), which includes the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (“Data Protection Directive”).

On June 18, 2013, the New York office of Hunton & Williams LLP office hosted Cornell University’s Privacy and Data Security Symposium, Privacy, Security & Your Data - Concerns in a Changing World. The program focused on global privacy and cybersecurity issues, including protecting the personal information of Internet users, balancing user privacy with law enforcement concerns, and implementing responsible data stewardship and governance. Moderated by Cornell University’s Tracy Mitrano, Director of IT Policy and Institute for Computer Policy and Law, the panel included:

In recent months, the Belgian media has reported on a significant increase in data breaches. In December 2012, the National Belgian Railway Company inadvertently published 1.46 million sets of customer data online. The rise in data security incidents has caught the attention of the Belgian Privacy Commission, which has the authority to make recommendations on any matter relating to the application of the fundamental data protection principles in the Belgian Data Protection Act of December 8, 1992. In a May 2013 article published in Bloomberg BNA’s World Data Protection Report

The Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP is pleased to announce that Bojana Bellamy, global director of data privacy for Accenture, will be joining the firm as president of the Centre, effective September 2, 2013. Current Centre President, Marty Abrams, who is retiring on September 1, will stay on as an advisor to the Centre.

The Bavarian data protection authority recently updated its compliance initiative regarding online tracking tools to include Adobe’s online tracking product (Adobe Analytics (Omniture)). As with previous initiatives of this nature, the underlying analyses were carried out in an automated manner, using a program specifically developed by the Bavarian data protection authority to verify compliance.