On 29 November 2024, the Australian Senate passed the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (Cth) (the Privacy Act Bill).  This follows the passage of the Cyber Security Act 2024 (Cth), and other cyber-security related amendments, on 25 November 2024.  

The majority of the amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) will

Continue Reading Australia: Privacy Act amendments and Cyber Security Act become law

“Ethically challenging” and “the most intrusive option” – these are some of the words Australia’s Privacy Commissioner used to describe facial recognition technology (FRT), and its use by national hardware retailer Bunnings.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has released the findings of its much-awaited investigation into the use of FRT

Continue Reading Australia: In-Store Facial Recognition Tech Breached Privacy Act

On 20 November 2024, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) was published in the Official Journal of the EU, kicking off the phased implementation of the CRA obligations.

What is the CRA?

The CRA is a harmonising EU regulation, the first of its kind focusing on safeguarding consumers and businesses from cybersecurity threats. 

Continue Reading EU: Cyber Resilience Act published in EU Official Journal

On November 18, 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – “BGH”) made a (to date unpublished) judgment under the case number VI ZR 10/24 regarding claims for non-material damages pursuant to Art. 82 GDPR, due to the loss of control over personal data.

The judgment is based on a personal

Continue Reading Germany: Judgment on Non-Material Damages for Loss of Control over Personal Data

This is Part 3 in a series of articles on the European Health Data Space (“EHDS“).  Part 1, which provides a general overview of the EHDS, is available here. Part 2, which deals with the requirements on the manufacturers of EHR-Systems under the EHDS, is available here.

This article provides an

Continue Reading EU: EHDS – Access to health data for secondary use under the European Health Data Space

The European Data Protection Board (“EDPB“) adopted an opinion on 7 October 2024, providing guidance for data controllers relying on processors (and sub-processors) under the GDPR. The two key themes are:

  1. supply chain mapping;
  2. verifying compliance with flow-down obligations.

For many financial institutions, the emphasis on these obligations should not come as a

Continue Reading EU: Engaging vendors in the financial sector: EDPB clarifications mean more mapping and management

At the Legislative Council Panel on Constitutional Affairs held on 19 February 2024, the Privacy Commissioner (“Commissioner“) reported that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data was working with the Government to review the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (“PDPO“) to strengthen personal data protection in Hong Kong. At the

Continue Reading Hong Kong: Updates to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance put on hold

Déjà vu in the world of UK data law: the Labour government has proposed reforms to data protection and e-privacy laws through the new Data (Use and Access) Bill (“DUAB“). The DUAB follows the previous government’s unsuccessful attempts to reform these laws post-Brexit, which led to the abandonment of the Data Protection

Continue Reading UK: Data (Use and Access) Bill: newcomer or a familiar face?

It’s the turn of South-East Asian countries to update their data protection laws. Here is our summary of the proposed new data protection laws in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Organisations are advised to update their data protection compliance programmes as soon as possible to reflect these developments.

Vietnam

Vietnam issued its first draft of a

Continue Reading VIETNAM, MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA: what you need to know about the new SE Asia data protection laws