On May 4, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted new guidelines (the guidelines) regarding the use of consent as a legal basis for processing personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).[1] The guidelines update and replace the Article 29 Working Party’s April 2018 guidance on the same topic.

The guidelines remain largely unchanged from the earlier version but do provide helpful clarifications on two points: a) the validity of consent when interacting with so-called “cookie walls”; and b) “scrolling” as a means of indicating consent.
Continue Reading EDPB Adopts Updated Consent Guidance

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not just impact companies located in the European Economic Area (EEA). It has a “long-arm” provision which may subject foreign companies to its jurisdiction. There is a fair amount of uncertainty regarding how this provision may be applied. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has recently issued updated guidelines that shed some light on how national Supervisory Authorities are expected to interpret the extra-territorial reach of the GDPR (guidelines).[1] This article focuses on one aspect of the guidelines that may negatively affect vendors located outside the EEA.
Continue Reading Non-EEA Based Vendors Caught by GDPR’s Long-Arm Provisions

On February 7, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published draft guidelines on the processing of personal data in the context of connected vehicles and mobility related applications. If adopted in their current form, the draft guidelines will have far-reaching consequences for connected vehicles and mobility applications that operate in Europe. They contain detailed interpretations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related laws. Notably, the draft guidelines apply the EU cookie rules to connected vehicles, requiring granular consent to collect both personal and non-personal data from connected vehicles.
Continue Reading EU Privacy Regulators Issue Draft Guidelines on Connected Vehicles and Mobility Applications

On December 10, 2019, the Danish Supervisory Authority (SA) published its final version of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) that data controllers and processors may use to satisfy the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) obligation to enter into a data processing agreement.

The Danish SCCs have been reviewed and approved by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). Accordingly, they constitute an official template containing the contractual provisions that the Danish SA and the EDPB consider important. Because the Danish SCCs have been examined by all EU Supervisory Authorities and approved by the EDPB, they may become the model for data processing agreements across the EU.
Continue Reading On the Final Publication of the Danish Standard Contractual Clauses for Vendor Agreements: A New Standard?

On December 19, 2019, the Advocate General (AG) of the highest EU Court (the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)) issued his opinion in Schrems II[1] (the opinion). Wilson Sonsini previously covered the key points of the opinion in our Alert of December 20 and now provides a more detailed analysis in this contribution.

At stake in this case is the validity of two key EU data transfers mechanisms, the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The SCCs allow companies to transfer personal data to any country outside of the European Economic Area. The Privacy Shield enables transfers specifically from the EU to the U.S.
Continue Reading CJEU Advocate General Confirms Validity of EU Data Transfer Tools

On January 21, 2020, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published its final version of its Age Appropriate Design Code of Practice (the code). The code will be submitted to Parliament in the coming days, and, assuming there is no objection, will become effective approximately two months later.

This blog post follows our previous update on the ICO’s draft Age Appropriate Design Code. The current code was produced following extensive industry and consumer engagement. It adopts the maximum transition period of 12 months to allow companies to make meaningful and thoughtful changes to how they operate. 
Continue Reading Update: UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code