LinkedIn blocked in Russia

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On November 11, 2016, a court in Moscow upheld the decision of a lower court to block Russians from accessing LinkedIn. The court decision originated from a decision of the Russian data protection regulator (Roskomnadzor), which had found that LinkedIn had failed to maintain Russian data on Russian servers in breach of the Russian Data Localization law. The decision affected over 5 million registered LinkedIn users. See here. According to the Localization, Russian personal data must be initially Read more [...]

China adopts new cybersecurity law

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On November 7, 2016, China adopted a new cyber-security law that will come into force in June 2017. The new legislation has received some criticism. According to James Zimmerman, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, “this is a step backwards for innovation in China that won’t do much to improve security.”The law sets “broad restrictions on cross-border data flows” and cybernationalism will not provide “security benefits but will create barriers to Chinese as well Read more [...]

A German DPA to carry out 500 company audits on international data transfers

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On November 3, 2016, the Bavarian Data Protection Authority (BayLDA) informed that it will carry out a privacy audit on the international data transfers of more than 500 companies. The Authority has decided to carry out such audits because of the suspicion that companies may transfer data abroad without even being aware of it. Indeed, many small and medium-sized German businesses outsource its data processing – for example through cloud computing – and the service providers transfer Read more [...]

German DPA prohibits data transfer from WhatsApp to Facebook

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On September 26, 2016, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information issued an order prohibiting Facebook to collect and store data of German WhatsApp users.  The decision came after WhatsApp issued a statement informing its users that the application’s terms and privacy policy was updated, as a consequence of WhatsApp’s joining Facebook. Following the wave of concerns expressed by DPAs all over the world, the German Authority issued the order prohibiting Facebook Read more [...]

Privacy issues in biometrics

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
Commercial use of biometric data increased dramatically in recent years: some software are now able to recognize physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, retinas, hand and facial geometry, as well as voices. This technology makes people’s life easier as their hand or voice may be enough to access their phone or bank account, and one single click may be enough to be tagged in hundreds of photos. However, you cannot change biometric data as you change passwords: it needs to be well protected. Read more [...]