A little more than one month after the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to extend new data privacy rights to its people, the governor of California signed a separate, sweeping data protection law that borrowed several ideas from GDPR, sparking a torch in a legislative data privacy trend that has now spanned at least 10 countries. In Chile, lawmakers are … [Read more...]
April 1, 2020
February 4, 2020
Washington Privacy Act welcomed by corporate and nonprofit actors
The steady parade of US data privacy legislation continued last month in Washington with the introduction of an improved bill that would grant state residents the rights to access, control, delete, and port their data, as well as opting out of data sales. The bill, called the Washington Privacy Act, also improves upon its earlier 2019 version, providing stronger safeguards on the use of facial … [Read more...]
December 23, 2019
Online privacy in 2019: a legislative review
For decades, the United States treated data privacy like an aging home, patching individual leaks and drafts only when a new storm hit. The country passed a law protecting healthcare-related information, and not much else. It then passed a law protecting video rental information, and not much else. It continued this way, repeatedly passing sector-specific laws while failing to address a problem … [Read more...]
November 6, 2019
ACCESS Act might improve data privacy through interoperability
Data privacy is back in Congressional lawmakers’ sights, as a new, legislative proposal focuses not on data collection, storage, and selling, but on the idea that Americans should be able to more easily pack up their user data and take it to a competing service—perhaps one that better respects their data privacy. The new bill would also require certain tech companies, including Facebook, … [Read more...]
October 22, 2019
7 ways your organisation can suffer a data breach
Organisations of all sizes are waking up to the threat of data breaches. But don’t be fooled into focusing on the prospect of a hacker breaking into your systems. There are many other ways that your organisation can be compromised. Let’s take a look at seven of the biggest cyber security threats you should be concerned about. 1. Employee error Data breaches aren’t always malicious attacks. … [Read more...]
September 19, 2019
CEOs offer their own view of a US data privacy law
Last week, the chief executives of more than 50 mid- and large-sized companies urged Congress to pass a national data privacy law to regulate how companies collect, use, and share Americans’ data. Buried deep within the chief executives’ recommendations for such a law, presented as a policy framework for guidance, was a convenient proposal: Private individuals should not be allowed to sue … [Read more...]
July 30, 2019
July 25, 2019
The GDPR: Why you need to review your third-party service providers’ security
Organisations share personal data with third parties all the time, but can they be trusted? The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) extended the scope of responsibility when it comes to data protection and privacy, so where does that leave you when it comes to security incidents caused by service providers? How third-party relationships work under the GDPR Before we begin, let’s be … [Read more...]
July 17, 2019
Data breach costs Netherlands hospital €460,000
Haga Hospital, based in the Netherlands, was this week fined €460,000 by the Dutch data protection authority (AP) for breaching the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Haga was investigated by the AP after 85 hospital employees had access to the medical records of Samantha de Jong, AKA Barbie, a well–known Dutch reality TV star. In addition to the fine, Haga must improve the … [Read more...]
July 12, 2019
Should you take a GDPR or DPO training course?
The introduction of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) has led to a surge in interest in data protection training courses. Education is particularly important for anyone taking on the responsibilities of the DPO (data protection officer), a position that’s become a formal requirement for many organisations. But how should you pursue training? Should you enrol on a DPO training … [Read more...]
