Is Edward Snowden a Whistleblower?
Will the EU finally deny the right to transfer any personal data from its shores to the United States? Its privacy decisions have been inching closer to this determination for years, and an Irish case against Facebook may tip...more
In the wake of Edward Snowden’s disclosures, the United States administration faced a daunting series of challenges on surveillance, cybersecurity, and privacy. Congress was reluctant to enact comprehensive legislation....more
On February 24, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Judicial Redress Act giving citizens of certain “covered countries” access to U.S. courts to protect their privacy and take legal action against U.S. government...more
On Monday, January 4, 2016, the U.S. government filed a motion in Klayman v. Obama to vacate the preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that limited the National Security...more
On Monday, November 9, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled, in Klayman v. Obama, against part of the National Security Agency’s (“NSA”) surveillance program that collects domestic...more
With EU Safe Harbor Invalidated, Companies Ask: What Now? - What happens now?: That is the question that businesses across the country are asking after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) threw out the...more
Earlier this month the Court of Justice of the European Union struck down the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework which previously provided U.S. companies comfort in that they could follow the framework and know they were not...more
This past Tuesday, in the groundbreaking decision of Schrems vs. Data Protection Commissioner (C-362/14), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the Safe Harbor provision of the EU Commission,...more
On October 6, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announced its determination that the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor program is no longer a “safe” (i.e., legally valid) means for transferring personal data of EU...more
The European Court of Justice has just issued a decision (ECJ 6 October 2015 Case C-362/14, Maximillian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner) that invalidates the so-called US-EU “Safe Harbor” system. Suddenly, what 3,500...more
A major European court has just pulled the rug out from under nearly 5,000 US companies, snatching away the relative business certainty of the Data Transfer Safe Harbor, and maybe the safety of standard contract clauses and...more
Cybersecurity, encryption, and government surveillance are daily challenges for public officials, corporations, and lawyers. On October 16, the Roger Williams University School of Law will present Cybersecurity and Law...more
In an important case involving Facebook, and instigated by an Austrian student in response to the Snowden revelations about US security agency access to mass data, the Advocate General (“AG”) to the Court of Justice of the...more
On September 23, 2015, Advocate General Yves Bot delivered an opinion on the issue of the transfer of personal data from Facebook Ireland to Facebook USA, in light of the generalized access the National Security Agency (NSA)...more
Privacy and data security professionals worldwide should circle September 1 on their calendars, as it’s the day Russia’s new data localization law goes into effect – and possibly generates major waves far beyond Russian...more
On June 4, 2015, President Obama and his administration signed into law the U.S.A. Freedom Act, which “reform[s] the authorities of the Federal Government to require the production of certain business records, conduct...more
As post-Snowden America well knows, for some years now the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting bulk telephone metadata under the authority of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and aggregating it into data banks...more
Nearly two years ago, Edward Snowden, a contractor working with the U.S. National Security Agency (“NSA”), revealed startling details of widespread surveillance practices by the U.S. government into telephone and Internet...more
There isn’t an official Privacy Person of the Year award. If there were, Edward Snowden almost certainly would have won it last year. Instead, he finished in second place, behind Pope Francis, as TIME Magazine’s 2013 Person...more
2013 was a year in contrasts within data privacy. To begin with the “normal” course, Canada sought (but failed) to pass a mandatory breach notification amendment to its federal privacy law, and Uruguay acceded to the European...more
Outside of the EU, concerns continue after the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaks demonstrated issues related to U.S. handling of European data. Beginning in July, 2013, the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment...more
It seems like a new revelation about mass surveillance by the U.S. government and our allies occurs on an almost daily basis, each one more astounding than the last. Don’t be surprised if those jingling bells you hear on your...more
It’s been a hot year in the trade secrets field, with some huge verdicts and settlements, a renewed spotlight on cyberattacks, and an unusual flurry of trade secrets legislation. Trade Secrets Watch’s 2013 Year-in-Review...more