On September 5, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling in the case of Bărbulescu v. Romania that affirms employees’ right to privacy in the use of communications tools in the workplace. Although the ruling is strict, it aligns with the positions taken by the national courts of certain European Union Member States (e.g., Germany) and guidance issued by data protection authorities. And the criteria that the ECHR adopts for assessing the lawfulness of monitoring generally aligns with the requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation, which takes full effect on May 25, 2018. In our post, we summarize the ruling and identify key takeaways for companies that monitor workforce use of information systems and tools in the EU.
Tag Archives: data minimization
When Did You Last See Your Filing Cabinets? UK ICO Fine for Discarded Data Shows Accountability in Action
If you care enough about privacy issues to be a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that one of the Big Changes under GDPR will be the introduction of “accountability” as a legal obligation, i.e. it will now be a requirement that a data controller is able to demonstrate its compliance with the principles relating to processing of personal data set out in Article 5 of the GDPR. You may even have started thinking about what this means for your organisation: how are you going to get your development teams to adopt privacy by design and default? What are you doing about data minimisation? Do you apply appropriate levels of encryption to your personal data? In our ever-more digitally driven world, it’s easy to get caught up in the sophisticated stuff, but a recent UK ICO decision reminds us that accountability is about the simple stuff as well. Which brings us to filing cabinets.
Internet of Things Report Released by the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday released its staff report on the Internet of Things. The report summarizes the FTC’s November 2013 workshop, “The Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World,” and provides FTC staff recommendations in this area. Notably, the report also describes best practices for data security and data minimization, and reaffirms the FTC’s commitment to notice and choice principles. We provide below an overview of the staff’s recommendations and the concurring and dissenting views of Commissioners Ohlhausen and Wright.