ECJ’s preliminary ruling on case of German DPA against Facebook

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
EU data protection law according to Directive 95/46/EC. According to the CJEU’s judgement, EU companies that have been advertising through Facebook can be considered data controllers with all the responsibility and liability that comes with that. Although this case was decided under Directive 95/46/EC, it is safe to assume that some interpretations will be applicable under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation EU 2016/679), which replaced the Directive. Background. Read more [...]

ICO’s right to be informed page

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
The Information Commissioner’s Office ICO published a resourceful page concerning the right to be informed. The right to be informed covers some of the key transparency requirements of the GDPR. It is about providing individuals with clear and concise information about how their personal data are processed. Among the answers to several questions concerning the right to be informed, the page contains a checklists to assess how companies comply with the right to be informed requirements. The Read more [...]

The aftermath of Cambridge Analytica’s scandal and other problems for Facebook in Europe

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
The scandal of Cambridge Analytica caused several consequences for Facebook in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner (ICO) is investigating the use of personal data and analytics by political campaigns, parties, social media companies and other commercial actors by 30 organizations, including Facebook. See here. The Working Party 29(WP29) created a Social Media Working Group to develop a long-term strategy on the collection personal data from social media for micro-targeting Read more [...]

Guidelines on Transparency under Regulation 2016/679 (wp260rev.01)

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
The guidelines on Transparency under Regulation 2016/679 provide practical guidance and interpretative assistance from the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) on the new obligation of transparency concerning the processing of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Transparency is an overarching obligation under the GDPR applying to three central areas: (1) the provision of information to data subjects related to fair processing; (2) how data controllers Read more [...]

Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
The Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679 provide a thorough analysis of the notion of consent. Controllers must always consider which one is the appropriate lawful ground for the processing. Consent remains one of six lawful bases to process personal data, as listed in Article 6, GDPR. The data subject shall have a genuine choice with regard to accepting or declining the terms offered or declining them without detriment, thus exercising control over whether or not her personal Read more [...]