Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Ltd. and Maximillian Schrems (C.J.E.U.)

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-98
Author(s):  
Michael S. Aktipis ◽  
Ron B. Katwan

On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its ruling in Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited and Maximillian Schrems, commonly known as Schrems II, invalidating the EU–U.S. Privacy Shield as a valid transfer mechanism under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and creating significant legal uncertainty for the continued availability of another widely used transfer mechanism, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), for transfers of EU personal data from commercial entities in the EU to the United States. The widely anticipated ruling marked the second time in five years that the CJEU had invalidated the legal foundation for such data transfers, which in both cases had been the result of a carefully negotiated compromise balancing European data privacy concerns with statutory and constitutional limitations of the U.S. system (see Schrems I).

Author(s):  
Francisco García Martínez

The creation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) constituted an enormous advance in data privacy, empowering the online consumers, who were doomed to the complete loss of control of their personal information. Although it may first seem that it only affects companies within the European Union, the regulation clearly states that every company who has businesses in the EU must be compliant with the GDPR. Other non-EU countries, like the United States, have seen the benefits of the GDPR and are already developing their own privacy laws. In this article, the most important updates introduced by the GDPR concerning US corporations will be discussed, as well as how American companies can become compliant with the regulation. Besides, a comparison between the GDPR and the state of art of privacy in the US will be presented, highlighting similarities and disparities at the national level and in states of particular interest.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-94
Author(s):  
Matúš Mesarčík

A new era of data protection laws arises after the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. One of the newly adopted regulations of processing of personal data is Californian Consumer Privacy Act commonly referred to as CCPA. The article aims to fill the gap considering a deep analysis of the territorial scope of both acts and practical consequences of the application. The article starts with a brief overview of privacy regulation in the EU and USA. Introduction to GDPR and CCPA follows focusing on the territorial scope of respective legislation. Three scenarios of applicability are derived in the following part including practical examples.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 531-565
Author(s):  
Md. Toriqul Islam ◽  
Mohammad Ershadul Karim

The General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) of the European Union (EU) emerges as a hot-button issue in contemporary global politics, policies, and business. Based on an omnibus legal substance, extensive extraterritorial scope and influential market powers, it appears as a standard for global data protection regulations as can be witnessed by the growing tendency of adopting, or adjusting relevant national laws following the instrument across the globe. Under Article 3, of the GDPR applies against any data controller or processor within and outside the EU, who process the personal data of EU residents. Therefore, the long arm of the GDPR is extended to cover the whole world, including Malaysia. This gives rise to tension worldwide, as non-compliance thereof leads to severe fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual turnover. This is not a hypothetical possibility, rather a reality, as a huge amount of fines are already imposed on many foreign companies, such as Google, Facebook, Uber, and Equifax to name a few. Such a scenario, due to the existence of state sovereignty principles under international law, has made the researchers around the world curious about some questions, why does the EU adopt an instrument having the extraterritorial application; whether the extraterritorial scope is legitimate under normative international law; how the provisions of this instrument can be enforced, and how these are justified. This article attempts to search for answers to those questions by analyzing the relevant rules and norms of international law and the techniques of the EU employed. The article concludes with the findings that the extraterritorial scope of the GDPR is justified under international law in a changed global context. The findings of this article will enlighten the relevant stakeholders, including Malaysian policymakers and business entities, to realise the theoretical aspects of inclusion of the extraterritorial feature of the GDPR, and this understanding may facilitate them to map their future strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Ralf Kneuper

In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR 2016) came into effect in the European Union (EU), defining requirements on how to handle personal data of EU citizens. This report discusses the effects of this regulation on software development organisations outside the EU, and summaries the software requirements that result from GDPR and therefore apply to most information technology (IT) systems that will handle data of individuals based in the EU.


Design Issues ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-96
Author(s):  
Arianna Rossi ◽  
Monica Palmirani

Design is a key player in the future of data privacy and data protection. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) established by the European Union aims to rebalance the information asymmetry between the organizations that process personal data and the individuals to which that data refers. Machine-readable, standardized icons that present a “meaningful overview of the intended processing” are suggested by the law as a tool to enhance the transparency of information addressed to data subjects. However, no specific guidelines have been provided, and studies on privacy iconography are very few. This article describes research conducted on the creation and evaluation of icons representing data protection concepts. First, we introduce the methodology used to design the Data Protection Icon Set (DaPIS): participatory design methods combined with legal ontologies and machine-readable representations. Second, we discuss some of the challenges that have been faced in the development and evaluation of DaPIS and similar icon sets. Third, we provide some tentative responses and indicate a way forward for evaluation of the effectiveness of privacy icons and their widespread adoption.


Hypertension ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 1029-1035
Author(s):  
Antonia Vlahou ◽  
Dara Hallinan ◽  
Rolf Apweiler ◽  
Angel Argiles ◽  
Joachim Beige ◽  
...  

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became binding law in the European Union Member States in 2018, as a step toward harmonizing personal data protection legislation in the European Union. The Regulation governs almost all types of personal data processing, hence, also, those pertaining to biomedical research. The purpose of this article is to highlight the main practical issues related to data and biological sample sharing that biomedical researchers face regularly, and to specify how these are addressed in the context of GDPR, after consulting with ethics/legal experts. We identify areas in which clarifications of the GDPR are needed, particularly those related to consent requirements by study participants. Amendments should target the following: (1) restricting exceptions based on national laws and increasing harmonization, (2) confirming the concept of broad consent, and (3) defining a roadmap for secondary use of data. These changes will be achieved by acknowledged learned societies in the field taking the lead in preparing a document giving guidance for the optimal interpretation of the GDPR, which will be finalized following a period of commenting by a broad multistakeholder audience. In parallel, promoting engagement and education of the public in the relevant issues (such as different consent types or residual risk for re-identification), on both local/national and international levels, is considered critical for advancement. We hope that this article will open this broad discussion involving all major stakeholders, toward optimizing the GDPR and allowing a harmonized transnational research approach.


This new book provides an article-by-article commentary on the new EU General Data Protection Regulation. Adopted in April 2016 and applicable from May 2018, the GDPR is the centrepiece of the recent reform of the EU regulatory framework for protection of personal data. It replaces the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive and has become the most significant piece of data protection legislation anywhere in the world. This book is edited by three leading authorities and written by a team of expert specialists in the field from around the EU and representing different sectors (including academia, the EU institutions, data protection authorities, and the private sector), thus providing a pan-European analysis of the GDPR. It examines each article of the GDPR in sequential order and explains how its provisions work, thus allowing the reader to easily and quickly elucidate the meaning of individual articles. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the background to the GDPR and its place in the greater structure of EU law and human rights law. Account is also taken of closely linked legal instruments, such as the Directive on Data Protection and Law Enforcement that was adopted concurrently with the GDPR, and of the ongoing work on the proposed new E-Privacy Regulation.


Author(s):  
Yola Georgiadou ◽  
Rolf de By ◽  
Ourania Kounadi

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protects the personal data of natural persons and at the same time allows the free movement of such data within the European Union (EU). Hailed as majestic by admirers and dismissed as protectionist by critics, the Regulation is expected to have a profound impact around the world, including in the African Union (AU). For European–African consortia conducting research that may affect the privacy of African citizens, the question is ‘how to protect personal data of data subjects while at the same time ensuring a just distribution of the benefits of a global digital ecosystem?’ We use location privacy as a point of departure, because information about an individual’s location is different from other kinds of personally identifiable information. We analyse privacy at two levels, individual and cultural. Our perspective is interdisciplinary: we draw from computer science to describe three scenarios of transformation of volunteered/observed information to inferred information about a natural person and from cultural theory to distinguish four privacy cultures emerging within the EU in the wake of GDPR. We highlight recent data protection legislation in the AU and discuss factors that may accelerate or inhibit the alignment of data protection legislation in the AU with the GDPR.


Author(s):  
Francisco García Martínez

The creation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) constituted an enormous advance in data privacy, empowering the online consumers, who were doomed to the complete loss of control of their personal information. Although it may first seem that it only affects companies within the European Union, the regulation clearly states that every company who has businesses in the EU must be compliant with the GDPR. Other non-EU countries, like the United States, have seen the benefits of the GDPR and are already developing their own privacy laws. In this article, the most important updates introduced by the GDPR concerning US corporations will be discussed, as well as how American companies can become compliant with the regulation. Besides, a comparison between the GDPR and the state of art of privacy in the US will be presented, highlighting similarities and disparities at the national level and in states of particular interest.


AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cedric Ryngaert ◽  
Mistale Taylor

The deterritorialization of the Internet and international communications technology has given rise to acute jurisdictional questions regarding who may regulate online activities. In the absence of a global regulator, states act unilaterally, applying their own laws to transborder activities. The EU's “extraterritorial” application of its data protection legislation—initially the Data Protection Directive (DPD) and, since 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—is a case in point. The GDPR applies to “the processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the Union by a controller or processor not established in the Union, where the processing activities are related to: (a) the offering of goods or services . . . to such data subjects in the Union; or (b) the monitoring of their behaviour . . . within the Union.” It also conditions data transfers outside the EU on third states having adequate (meaning essentially equivalent) data protection standards. This essay outlines forms of extraterritoriality evident in EU data protection law, which could be legitimized by certain fundamental rights obligations. It then looks at how the EU balances data protection with third states’ countervailing interests. This approach can involve burdens not only for third states or corporations, but also for the EU political branches themselves. EU law viewed through the lens of public international law shows how local regulation is going global, despite its goal of protecting only EU data subjects.


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