In the landscape of corporate operations, accessing employee emails may sometimes feel like a necessity for companies. Whether to investigate suspected misconduct of current employees, facilitate operational management during an employee’s prolonged absence, or streamline the transition after an employee departs, the reasons can be varied. However, this task is not straightforward as there are […]
personal data
CJEU rules on Right of Access and first copy of personal data: what companies should know
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a recent ruling in case C-307/22, highlighting important considerations regarding the extent of the right of access under Article 15 of the GDPR. This ruling carries significant implications for companies that process personal data under the GDPR. It asserts that the GDPR right of access […]
New Data Protection Law in Saudi Arabia
Individual privacy in Saudi Arabia and the protection of personal data have long fallen under the general provisions of Saudi law and not under the specific provisions on „data protection“ or „data security“. In the absence of specific laws, Islamic law generally applies in Saudi Arabia. Thus, Saudi courts dealt with data protection issues according […]
WhatsApp switches its legal basis to „Legitimate Interest“ due to severe sanctions
It is by far not the first time that Meta and its platforms had to face scrutiny in terms of their privacy policy. This time around, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) sanctioned WhatsApp with a fine of 5.5 million Euros due to the lack of a legitimate legal basis for processing personal data in […]
Google and the U.S.: A multi-state historic privacy settlement
Google, the giant U.S. tech company, will pay a total of $391.5 million to 40 U.S. states, which is the largest multi-state privacy settlement with state Attorneys General in the U.S. history. The main reason behind the fine is that the online search engine platform has engaged in deceptive and unfair actions in violation of […]
Art. 9 GDPR: What counts as special categories of personal data?
In its judgment of August 1, 2022, the CJEU extended the scope of application of Art. 9 GDPR to “indirectly sensitive data” following a referral from a Lithuanian Administrative Court (Case C 184-20). This ruling is being widely discussed in the data protection world, as it has the potential to have a big impact on […]
Encryption measures validated by the Belgian Council of State as an additional measure to the transfer of personal data outside of the EEA
The Flemish Authorities initially considered the specific encryption tools as a valid supplementary measure in addition to the European Standard contractual clauses (SCCs). The measure was applied by a European branch of a US company using AWS cloud. The decision was confirmed by the Belgian Council of State upon a formal complaint of a third […]
Your Heart Rate Data Can Land You in Jail
This so happened in Ohio last fall, when a man was convicted of aggravated arson and insurance fraud based on evidence provided by the data from his cardiac pacemaker. A man, whose house had burnt down, was investigated against after traces of fire accelerant had been found by the police. The suspect claimed that he […]
Personal Data in China. A Step towards Protection.
Currently, there is no specific data protection law in China; rules relating to personal data protection are found in different laws and regulations. Some weeks ago, on 1 June 2017, the new Cybersecurity Law entered into force. We already wrote about it here. Recently, a new draft of a Standard called “Information security techniques – […]
What do They Know, and How are You Being Tracked Online?
We have heard on how companies are tracking our data, and we have a vague idea on where and when our personal data is being gathered. However, corporate surveillance has been in constant development providing more information about a person than ever before. As an internet user, how much do you know about your personal […]