Tag Archives: Email

Canadian Anti-Spam Regulations Released for Comment

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Adam Kardash from Heenan Blaikie LLP in Canada reports that Industry Canada and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) have released draft regulations for Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”). CASL imposes a consent-based anti-spam regime that restricts organizations’ ability to send commercial electronic messages. Industry Canada and the CRTC are charged with the task of implementing regulations under CASL. Continue reading…

Tags: Adam Kardash, Canada, Email, Legislation, Telecommunications

Sotto Discusses Epsilon Breach with Information Security Media Group

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On April 5, 2011, Lisa Sotto, partner and head of the Privacy and Data Security practice at Hunton & Williams LLP, discussed the Epsilon email breach in an interview with Tracy Kitten of Information Security Media Group. The interview covered issues such as data protection requirements for sensitive consumer data, steps companies should take to protect data and lessons to be learned from the breach. Listen to the interview or download the podcast now.

Tags: Consumer Protection, Email, Lisa Sotto, Payment Card

Senators Kerry and McCain Introduce the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On April 12, 2011, U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011 (the “Act”) to “establish a regulatory framework for the comprehensive protection of personal data for individuals under the aegis of the Federal Trade Commission.” The bill applies broadly to entities that collect, use, transfer or store the “covered information” of more than 5,000 individuals over a consecutive 12-month period. Certain provisions of the bill would direct the FTC to initiate rulemaking proceedings within specified timeframes, but the bill also imposes requirements directly on covered entities. Continue reading…

Tags: Accountability, Consumer Protection, Email, Federal Trade Commission, John Kerry, John McCain, Legislation, Opt-In Consent, Personally Identifiable Information, Privacy By Design, Safe Harbor, Social Security Number

SEC Announces Penalties Against Executives for Privacy Violations

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On April 7, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement involving three former brokerage firm executives charged with “failing to protect confidential information about their customers.” According to the announcement, “this is the first time that the SEC has assessed financial penalties against individuals charged solely with violations of Regulation S-P.” Regulation S-P mandates that financial firms safeguard their customers’ confidential information and prevent its release to unaffiliated third parties without authorization.

Tags: Consumer Protection, Email, Penalty, Securities and Exchange Commission

Google Settles FTC Deceptive Privacy Practice Charges Regarding Google Buzz

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On March 30, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Google agreed to settle charges that it used deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy promises to consumers when it launched its social network, Google Buzz, in 2010. According to the FTC’s complaint (main document, exhibits), Google led Gmail users to believe that they could choose whether or not they wanted to join Google Buzz. The options for declining or leaving Google Buzz, however, were ineffective. For those who joined Google Buzz, the controls for limiting the sharing of their personal information were difficult to locate and confusing. Furthermore, the FTC charged that Google violated its privacy policies by using information provided for Gmail for another purpose – social networking – without obtaining consumers’ permission in advance. Finally, the FTC alleged that Google misrepresented that it was treating personal information from the European Union in accordance with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor framework because it failed to give consumers notice and choice before using their information for a different purpose from that for which it was collected. Continue reading…

Tags: Consent Order, Consumer Protection, Email, Federal Trade Commission, Google, Penalty, Privacy By Design, Privacy Policy, Safe Harbor, Social Media

Israeli National Labor Court Severely Restricts Employee Monitoring

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Reporting from Israel, legal consultant Dr. Omer Tene writes:

In a sweeping, 91-page decision issued last week, the Israeli National Labor Court severely restricted employers’ ability to monitor employee emails. In its opinion, the Court made strong statements concerning the suspect nature of employee consent and mandated the implementation of principles of legitimacy, transparency, proportionality, purpose limitation, access, accuracy, confidentiality and security. The Court stated that, given the constitutional status of the right to privacy, exemptions to the Privacy Protection Act, 1981, must be interpreted narrowly.

Tags: Email, Employee Monitoring, Israel, Omer Tene, Right to Privacy

Canadian Bills Propose Security Breach Notification Requirements and Anti-Spam Regulations

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On May 25, 2010, two privacy-related bills were introduced in the Parliament of Canada: the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (“FISA” or Bill C-28) and the Safeguarding Canadians’ Personal Information Act (Bill C-29) amending the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”).

Bill C-29 is the long-awaited government response to the five-year mandatory review of PIPEDA. The centerpiece of the bill is a new disclosure provision for security breaches related to personal information. Key elements in the security breach notification proposal include:

Any “material breach of security safeguards involving personal information” would have to be reported to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
A determination of whether the breach is “material” would be made by the entity, based on the sensitivity of the information, the number of individuals affected and whether there is a systemic problem.
Notification would have to be made “as soon as feasible” individuals affected by the breach “if it is reasonable in the circumstances to believe that the breach creates a real risk of significant harm to the individual.”
A determination of whether there is a “real risk” would be made by the entity, based on the sensitivity of the information and the probability that the personal information has been, is being or will be misused.

Tags: Canada, Email

New Jersey Supreme Court’s Ruling Advances Employee Privacy

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On March 30, 2010, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled for the former employee in Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc. on the employee’s claim that state common privacy law protected certain of her emails from review by the employer.

Tags: Email, Employee Monitoring, New Jersey

French Court Rules Investigation by Competition Authority Did Not Breach Employee Privacy Rights

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On February 19, 2010, the Court of Appeals of Versailles (the “Court”) upheld the unlimited seizure and review of a company’s emails by several agents of the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence). The agents had been authorized by a lower court judge to inspect the emails pursuant to an investigation into an alleged abuse of dominant position in the pharmaceutical market.

Tags: Email, France, Olivier Proust, Ray Hartwell, Right to Privacy

German Federal Constitutional Court Declares Implementation of Data Retention Directive Unconstitutional

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On March 2, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the mass storage of telephone and Internet data for law enforcement purposes is unlawful in its current form.

Since 2008, the challenged law has required telecom companies to retain data from telephone, email and Internet traffic, as well as mobile phone location data, for six months. This information may be retrieved for law enforcement and safety purposes. Constitutional claims were brought before the Court by nearly 35,000 citizens, representing the largest mass claim proceeding in German history.

Tags: Email, Fundamental Rights, Germany, IP address, Telecommunications

Privacy and Information Security Law Blog - Global privacy and information security law updates and analysis

Tag Archives: Email

Canadian Anti-Spam Regulations Released for Comment

Sotto Discusses Epsilon Breach with Information Security Media Group

SEC Announces Penalties Against Executives for Privacy Violations

Israeli National Labor Court Severely Restricts Employee Monitoring

Canadian Bills Propose Security Breach Notification Requirements and Anti-Spam Regulations

New Jersey Supreme Court’s Ruling Advances Employee Privacy

French Court Rules Investigation by Competition Authority Did Not Breach Employee Privacy Rights

German Federal Constitutional Court Declares Implementation of Data Retention Directive Unconstitutional

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