In Part 1 of our ‘Texas Joins the Privacy Fray’ series, we focused on the Texas Consumer Privacy Act. Here, we shine the light on the Texas Privacy Protection Act (HB 4390).

The TXPPA is distinguishable from both the TXCPA and the CCPA because the applicability threasholds are different. For the TXPPA to apply,

California, home to more than 40 million people and the 5th largest economy in the world, has passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), its omnibus consumer privacy law. The law creates sweeping new requirements concerning the collection, maintenance, and tracking of information for both employees or customers who are residents of California. Many aspects of the implementation and enforcement are still being finalized by the California Attorney General. However, companies with employees or customers in California need to take stock of the information they are processing that could qualify as “personal information” for California residents, and they need to begin establishing mechanisms for compliance before the end of 2019.
Continue Reading The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: What Businesses Need to Know Now

Welcome to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) […as if we didn’t have enough to worry about with the GDPR!].

The bracketed, italicized text, albeit a bit cynical, is with little doubt, how many of us initially reacted to the news of a new data protection law, hailed as the standard in consumer privacy protection, in California. And while the effective date is supposed to be January of 2020, January of 2019 isn’t too early to starting getting ready for the new law.

To dispel the rumors, the CCPA is not “GDPR-lite.” Where it comes on the heels of the GDPR’s May 2018 enforcement date, it isn’t a mirror image of the GDPR, or even a “watered down” variant of it. Drafters of the CCPA did indeed look to the GDPR as a basis for some of data protection concepts, but they focused on existing California privacy laws as well.Continue Reading The CA Consumer Privacy Act: The NEW Elephant in the Room

At the end of June, the California legislature passed its Bill 375, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.  The Act contains a number of concepts that would be familiar to those who are working to bring their companies and organizations into compliance with GDPR.  The new law defines a category of “Personal Information” that 

Seyfarth Shaw Offers Data Privacy & Protection in the EU-U.S. Desktop Guide and On-Demand Webinar Series

On May 25, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) will impose significant new obligations on all U.S. companies that handle personal data of any EU individual. U.S. companies can be fined up to €20 million or 4%

With the recent uptick in the U.S. of lawsuits filed as a result of a data breaches, state legislators in the U.S. have been busy updating the many different state laws that dictate how a company must respond if they have been hacked and personal information has been compromised. With no comprehensive federal law that sets forth a uniform compliance standard, companies operating in the U.S. must comply with a patchwork of 47 different states laws that set forth a company’s obligations in the event of a data breach.

Additionally, the trend is to have more than just notice requirements. Now companies have to develop proactive steps they must take to avoid a data breach in the first place. We first saw this with the Massachusetts law, and the model is expanding.Continue Reading Information Security Policies and Data Breach Response Plans – If You Updated Yours In June, It’s Already Obsolete

On July 21, 2014, Russia adopted Federal Law No. 242-FZ, “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation for Clarification of the Procedure of Personal Data Processing in Information and Telecommunication Networks” (“Federal Law No. 242-FZ”), which introduces a number of changes to existing Russian data protection laws. Specifically, it amends Federal Law No. 152-FZ, “On personal data,” by establishing a localization requirement for personal data processing.

Effective Date

What makes Federal Law No. 242-FZ important is its effective date. It was initially scheduled to come into force on September 1, 2016. However, on December 31, 2014, Federal Law No. 526-FZ was enacted, which changed the effective date of Russia’s Data Localization Law to September 1, 2015.
Continue Reading Fortress Russia – The Russian Data Localization Law

The French Answer to Flexible Working

Ever since the first laws on the 35-hour week were enacted over fifteen years ago, monitoring working time has been a headache for employers in France. With the introduction of new technology and mobile devices, the situation has worsened. The French approach to flexible working is to reaffirm that employees have the right to privacy and in some sectors the obligation to disconnect, as recently shown by the CNIL, the French Data Privacy Watchdog and the SYNTEC Federation.
Continue Reading The French Answer To Flexible Working: The Right To Privacy and To Limit Work After Business Hours

The Institute of Access to Information and Data Protection (“IFAI”) has made it known that it is going to be aggressive in enforcing the Mexican data protection law. While some commentators warn about the willingness to “show its teeth”, the basic question is still how to avoid being bitten.

Considering the allowable penalties can be in excess of US$1 Million, it is worthwhile to understand how one can effectively work with the law.
Continue Reading Mexican Privacy Enforcement – Options for Compliance