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On August 12, 2019, the Greek Ministry of Justice published the long-awaited, draft legislation for implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Greece and Slovenia are the only two European Union (EU) countries that have not yet implemented the GDPR.

As an EU regulation, the GDPR has legally taken effect in every EU country, including Greece. In fact, the Greek Supervisory Authority recently imposed a 150,000EUR fine on a company for GDPR violations. However, the GDPR allows EU countries to adopt certain derogations, specifications, and exceptions through their implementing legislation. The draft, inter alia, does this through the following provisions:

  1. Age of Consent

The draft requires that a minor over 15 years old (and up to 18 years old) must consent to the processing of his/her personal data for the processing to be lawful. When a minor is under 15 years old, the minor’s legal guardian must consent.Continue Reading Greece Publishes Draft Legislation for Implementing GDPR

On June 28, 2019, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) released its 2019-2020 action plan on ad targeting (action plan);1 among other things, the CNIL announced that it will issue new cookie guidance later this month and that, once the guidance is published, companies will have a 12-month grace period to come into compliance.

Background

When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became effective on May 25, 2018, it imposed stricter conditions for obtaining valid consent to process personal data. In short, consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Individuals must also be able to withdraw their consent at any time. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued guidelines to further clarify the “do’s and don’ts” for obtaining valid consent (consent guidelines), including that scrolling down or swiping through a website is not enough to obtain valid consent. Rather, consent must be obtained via a clear and affirmative action, such as clicking on an “I agree” button.Continue Reading The CNIL Announces Its 2019-2020 Action Plan on Ad Targeting

On May 22, 2019, a federal district court largely denied a facial challenge by Disney, Viacom, and several online advertising networks to claims alleging these defendants violated the privacy rights of children by collecting data through online gaming apps.

In McDonald v. Kiloo APS,[1] the defendants consisted of two groups: the developers who created the gaming apps and made them available for download, and the mobile advertising and app monetization companies who provided software code inserted into the gaming apps to collect user data for advertising purposes. The defendants allegedly collected a variety of data from the children’s devices without appropriate consent, including the IP address; the specific device name; IDs for Apple and Android devices; the device’s International Mobile Equipment Identity; the timestamp at which an advertising event was recorded; and device fingerprint data (the user’s language, time zone, country, and mobile network).Continue Reading Federal Court Allows Children’s Online Privacy Claims Against Disney, Viacom, and Online Ad Networks That Collected Data from Gaming Apps to Go Forward

On September 23, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB-1121, a bill that makes several amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA or the Act). The controversial privacy law, which is set to take effect in 2020, recently sparked a war of words among industry, privacy advocates, and the California Attorney General, each of whom sent letters to the California legislature urging amendments to the legislation. The California Chamber of Commerce, along with 36 business coalitions (Industry), submitted a letter to California Senator Bill Dodd in August, calling the Act “unworkable,” urging both technical and substantive cleanup of the Act, and introducing 21 proposed amendments. A coalition of 20 consumer privacy advocate groups (Advocates) responded with their own letter, highlighting the negative consequences Industry’s proposed changes would have on consumer rights.

The Industry and Consumer Advocates did not wholly disagree. Both coalitions urge the legislature to make technical fixes, such as clarification that businesses do not have to collect extra information to comply with the Act, as well as clarification of the definition of de-identified information. The California Attorney General also weighed in with comments, requesting specific amendments and additional time to issue regulations. In response to the input from these various stakeholders, the legislature amended the Act on August 31, 2018 and sent it to the Governor’s desk. This article sets forth the principal issues discussed in the letters and the legislature’s response.
Continue Reading California Consumer Privacy Act: Industry, Advocate, and Enforcement Concerns and Legislative Amendments

Recently, Vermont became the first state to enact legislation that regulates data brokers who buy and sell personal information. Under the new law, data brokers in Vermont will now have to register with the state, adopt standard security measures, and provide information to the state regarding their data collection practices. The law was passed in response to reported risks associated with the widespread aggregation and sale of data about consumers, and is intended to provide consumers with more information about data brokers and their data collection practices.
Continue Reading Vermont Enacts Groundbreaking Data Broker Regulation

On September 1, 2018, a new Colorado law took effect that, among other things, amends the state’s data breach law to: (1) expand the scope of the categories of “personal information” that trigger notification requirements; (2) require notification to residents and the state attorney general no more than 30 days after determining that a security breach has occurred; and (3) specify what must be included in these notifications.1 In addition, the statute requires entities that maintain, own, or license personal identifying information (PII) to implement and maintain reasonable security practices and procedures to secure PII and impose similar security obligations on third party service providers with which the entity shares PII. Finally, the law amends Colorado’s data disposal law to clarify the appropriate procedure for disposing of documents that contain PII. The passage of the Colorado law serves as a reminder that not only do state data breach notification requirements vary, but state laws also change over time in significant ways. Companies are well-advised to continue monitoring state laws for such changes.
Continue Reading New Colorado Law Takes Effect That Includes Strict 30-Day Data Breach Notification Requirement