“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

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

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

Introduction

In its judgement of 04 October 2024 (C-21/23), the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”, “Court”) ruled, that the provisions of Chapter VIII of the GDPR, do not preclude national rules which grant undertakings the right to rely, on the basis of the prohibition of acts of unfair competition

Continue Reading EU: ECJ rules that competitors are entitled to bring an injunction claim based on an infringement of the GDPR.

Introduction

The subject of “legitimate interests” and in particular whether they can be “purely commercial” has been a topic of front and center stage debate in the Netherlands for some time. The Dutch data protection authority (AP) has historically interpreted the concept of legitimate interest narrowly, taking the position that organisations

Continue Reading EU: CJEU Confirms that Legitimate Interests can cover purely commercial interests

In the much anticipated first King’s Speech of the new Labour Government on 17 July 2024, the monarch announced that the long anticipated Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill (CS&R Bill) would be amongst those new laws making their way onto Parliament’s schedule for the next year. Six years on from the implementation of the 

Continue Reading UK: The UK Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill – a different approach to NIS2 or a British sister act?

We previously wrote about proposed changes to the definition of sensitive personal information under a June 2024 draft of the Guide for Sensitive Personal Information Identification (“Guide“). The Guide has now (September 2024) been finalized and issued by the National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee (TC260). Helpfully, it gives organisations greater scope to

Continue Reading China: New definition and guidelines on Sensitive Personal Information now finalised