It’s been a long way and the task is not over yet. However, there is light at the end of the EU data protection reform tunnel. The modernisation of European privacy laws has reached a critical milestone and we can now safely assume that this process will culminate in a radical new framework in a matter of months. This entry is an excerpt from Hogan Lovells’ “Future-proofing privacy: A guide to preparing for the EU Data Protection Regulation.”
Tag Archives: DPA
EU Report Calls for Improvements to Redress Mechanisms Under EU Data Protection Laws
On January 27, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, an official agency of the European Union, released its report on Access to Data Protection Remedies in EU Member States. As detailed below, the FRA concluded that redress mechanisms for data protection violations in the EU need improvement. More specifically, the FRA found that data protection authorities do not have sufficient powers or resources, there are not enough judges and lawyers with adequate knowledge of data protection issues, civil society organizations (e.g., consumer interest and privacy advocacy groups) have difficulty bringing suits on behalf of victims of data protection breaches, the costs and burdens of proof associated with data protection suits are too high, and Europeans lack awareness of remedies for data protection violations.
Poland Introduces Amendments to Data Protection Legislation
On 16 October 2013, the Polish Ministry of Economy published draft amendments to Poland’s data protection law, the Polish Act of 29 August 1997 on the Protection of Personal Data (“PPD”), aimed at easing administrative obligations regarding the compulsory hiring of data protection officers and registration of data filing systems with the Polish Data Protection Authority (“DPA”). Under the proposed legislation, companies would have the flexibility to decide whether to appoint an administrator of information security (“AIS”), currently a legal requirement. A data controller regulated under the PPD would be able to strategically choose whether to appoint an AIS, a move that would increase its compliance obligations and the company’s visibility to regulators in return for reduced external filing obligations.
How To Work With Your European Data Protection Authority
At this week’s IAPP Privacy Academy in Seattle, Washington, Harriet Pearson, Partner in the Hogan Lovells Privacy and Information Practice, hosted a breakout session entitled How to work with Your European Data Protection Authority. The Session featured Billy Hawkes, Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland, and focused on providing privacy practitioners with practical advice on how to approach a Data Protection Authority (DPA) and earn their trust. The session also addressed practical compliance questions for European markets, gave advice on making successful regulatory filings, and gave tips for handling complaints and other challenging situations.
Reflections from Brussels on the Mexico City DPA Conference
Elisabethann Wright, a Partner in our Brussels Office, presented at the 33d International Congress of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Mexico City last week. In this entry, she shares some reflections from her participation.
Mideast Peace Talks, on Privacy
As the Data Protection Authority and Privacy Commissioner Conference in Jerusalem winds up, Hogan Lovells Privacy and Information Management Practice Leader Christopher Wolf shares this report publihsed in the Huffington Post which he co-authored with his co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum think tank, Jules Polonetsky: