21st Newsletter -> 26 November - 2 December 2016
The EU Parliament Gives Green Light to EU-U.S. 'Umbrella Agreement'
The EU-U.S. Umbrella Agreement on the protection of personal data exchanged across the Atlantic for the purposes of law enforcement was originally signed by EU-U.S. Justice Ministers on 2 June 2016 and this Thursday the European Parliament gave it a green light. The Agreement covers the transfer of personal data such as names, addresses or criminal records, which are exchanged between the EU and U.S. for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, including terrorism.
There was a motion seeking an opinion from the European Court of Justice on the Agreement's compatibility with the EU Treaties, but it was voted down. The Agreement will now enter into force once each party has completed necessary internal procedures. For the EU this presents the adoption of a decision by the Council on the conclusion of the agreement, following the European Parliament's consent vote. Following the vote the European Commission also issued Questions and Answers on the EU-U.S. Data Protection "Umbrella Agreement”.
Read more HERE
Read the Commission’s Q&A HERE
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Class Actions for Data Protection Violations Allowed in France
A French legislative bill was passed that creates a legal basis for class actions against data controllers and processors for data protection violations. The bill establishes a general class action regime and includes specific provisions regarding data protection violations. Class actions can now be initiated before civil or administrative courts in France when several individuals in a similar position suffered damages as a result of a data controller’s or data processor’s infringement of its obligations under the French Data Protection Act of 1978. The class action right does not yet allow individuals to seek monetary compensation but it does provide grounds for injunctions. With this new bill France emphasises the importance of data protection in light of the approaching GPDR compliance deadline for the GDPR approaches.
Read more HERE
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Irish DPA Issues GDPR Guidance for Individuals and Organisations
The Office of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has issued guidance on the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for individuals and organisations. This document is the first in a series that will issue in the run-up to the 25th May 2018 GDPR implementation date. This and the following Guidance documents’ aim is to try to alleviate some of concerns regarding increased GDPR obligations placed on companies, and facilitate a smooth transition to future data privacy standards for data controllers and data subjects alike. To make the Guidance clearer the DPC has created a check list to assist individuals and organisations towards compliance with the GDPR.
Read the Guidance document HERE
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UK ICO Issues Two More Fines for Spam Texting
This week the UK Information Commissioner’s Office issued fines to two companies responsible for millions of spam texts offering easy access to loans. The ICO investigated business practices of Silver City Tech Ltd and Oracle Insurance Brokers Ltd and found the firms had broken the law because they did not have the consent of the people the text messages were sent to.
The companies defended saying it was a third party company which had sent the texts on their behalf, a practice commonly known as affiliate marketing. Because Silver City Tech and Oracle Insurance Brokers instigated the messages, it was their responsibility under law to check the people being sent them had specifically consented to receiving marketing texts. Oracle Insurance Brokers was found to be responsible for around 136,000 texts and has been fined £30,000. Silver City Tech was fined £100,000 because it was found to be behind over three million texts in around five months. Below is an example of a message they sent out:
“Maxine, we have received your details and could arrange £500 over six months. Click for cash. 1270% rep APR, 292% int. Stop2 opt out.”
Read more HERE
Read Oracle Insurance Brokers Limited monetary penalty notice HERE
Read Silver City Tech Limited monetary penalty notice HERE
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Compiled by Jernej Mavrič, email: jm@dp-recruitment.com
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