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Beginning today, the UK adequacy decision for US data protection measures goes into effect. As a result, UK companies can transfer personal information to entities in the US that are participants in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF). As part of the decision, the UK Secretary of State will review the ongoing sufficiency of the DPF every four years. The ICO, in supporting the decision, suggested that the UK Secretary of State look at specific factors when reassessing the program. These include the risk to UK data subjects for automated decision making and right to be forgotten.Continue Reading No Need to Mind the Gap – UK Extension is a Data Bridge for US-UK Data Transfers

The UK’s new Code of Practice for App Store Operators and App Developers provides companies with privacy-related resources. It also highlights ICO privacy expectations. Participating in the code is done by voluntarily complying with it (it is not mandatory). The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, though, is not only working with leading companies to participate in the code, but also is looking at whether current laws should be expanded and/or if code participation should become mandatory. Continue Reading UK App Code Provides Privacy and Security Compliance Direction

Companies transferring personal data out of the EU or UK are reminded of key deadlines approaching for the contracts that govern these transfers. When the European Commission adopted the new Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) in 2021, it set a deadline of December 27, 2022 for existing contracts under the old SCCs. This means that by December 27, 2022 onward, all existing contracts using the old SCCs will need to be replaced by the new terms.Continue Reading Deadlines for EU and UK Standard Contractual Clauses Approaching

In a recent letter to the UK law society, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and the National Cyber Security Centre have provided lawyers with advice about ransomware payments. The two agencies cautioned lawyers that such payments would not help “protect” the data, mitigate the risk to individuals, or result in a lower ICO penalty in the event of a regulatory investigation. Instead, they stated in a release that accompanied the letter, lawyers “should not advise clients to pay ransomware demands should they fall victim to a cyber-attack.”Continue Reading UK ICO and NCSC Issue Caution About Making Ransomware Payments

The European Commission announced today a long-awaited decision that the UK data protection standards are adequate under the meaning of GDPR’s Article 45, providing a mechanism to enable transfer of data from the EU to the UK without the need for additional authorisation or putting in place additional safeguards. This decision will be in force for four years but can be withdrawn if the UK were to lower its standards and no longer provide EU citizens adequate protection for their personal data. The decision excludes personal data that is transferred for purposes of United Kingdom immigration control.
Continue Reading Free Data Flow to the UK May Continue – EU Adopts Adequacy Decision

The ICO first began its examination of Bounty UK Ltd. (a support club for parents) when the ICO was investigating the data brokerage industry generally, of which it viewed Bounty as taking part (given that it shared member information with third parties like Acxiom and Equifax). Here, in reaching its conclusion that the company had violated UK privacy laws, the ICO found the volume of sharing in which Bounty engaged “unprecedented,” and accused the company of both “careless data-sharing” as well as violations of the UK law that pre-dated GDPR (the violation having occurred prior to the law’s May 2018 implementation date). Interestingly, the violation has been described by commentators as a “data breach,” although it did not involve the typical “hacker” scenario that one thinks of when contemplating a breach. Instead, the company collected information and shared it with third parties without appropriate notice and consent.
Continue Reading UK ICO Fines Parenting Club £400,000 Over Breach Involving PII of Mothers and Babies

Prior to the “Brexit” vote in 2016, the pro-Brexit campaign, Vote Leave, sent almost 200,000 unsolicited texts in violation of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), according to a recent settlement it reached with the ICO. Under those regulations, as the ICO outlines in its PECR guidance, consumers must either have opted into receiving texts or they must already be an existing customer who “bought . . . a similar product or service” in the past.
Continue Reading UK’s ICO Brings Texting Enforcement Action, Fines Vote Leave 40,000 Pounds