Around the world, policymakers are focusing on ways to improve privacy frameworks. More than 120 countries currently have a privacy or data protection law enacted. Significant developments in the European Union, with the General Data Protection Regulation becoming applicable in May 2018, have had an impact on US based organizations that conduct business globally and on how regulators around the world think about privacy frameworks. Global approaches to privacy protection differ based on different legal traditions. Still, there is significant common ground in the commitment to empowering individuals with respect to the collection and use of personal data, and to protecting people against harm from the use of their data. FPF closely follows developments in EU policymaking and regulation supported by our local office in Brussels, as well as developments in APAC, and Latin America. We keep our stakeholders informed of relevant changes, case-law, guidance, policies, and legal requirements, while also providing background and in-depth analysis in order to support them in being ahead of key developments globally. FPF’s global work is led by Dr. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna.
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FPF Statement on Today's Safe Harbor Complaint
Today, the Center for Digital Democracy filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that companies are violating the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor agreement. CDD’s filing came with a report criticizing the practices of thirty companies. “We are carefully reviewing the report’s claims, but the dozen we have examined so far seem to reflect the […]
Cross Border Privacy Rules Advance at Beijing Meetings
APEC’s Data Privacy Subgroup concluded its 2014 meetings in Beijing, China earlier this week. The Future of Privacy Forum participated in these meetings as a member of the U.S. delegation. The biggest development of the week was Canada’s submission of its Notice of Intent to participate in the Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system. After […]
Mexico Takes Step Toward Data Privacy Interoperability
Last week, the Mexican Institute for Federal Access to Information (IFAI) hosted an event in Mexico City to discuss the recently-announced “Parameters of Self-Regulation for the Protection of Personal Data.” FPF participated in this workshop along with representatives from the Mexican government, TRUSTe, EuroPriSe and the Better Business Bureau. As described in opening remarks by the Secretary for Data […]
Google Responds Promptly to ECJ Ruling on “Right to Be Forgotten”
In a move “welcomed” by privacy advocates, Google today released a web form that allows Europeans to request removal of links to Internet contents that allegedly violate the individuals’ “right to be forgotten.” The form reflects part of Google’s response to the May 13 landmark rulingfrom the European Court of Justice (ECJ) holding that Google can be forced to remove […]
Japan Approved to Participate in APEC’s Cross-Border Privacy Rules System
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) has approved Japan as its newest participant in the Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system. The CBPR system is a voluntary program that establishes a baseline privacy certification process for the transfer of personal data among the 21 APEC member countries. To date, the United States, Mexico, and Japan have joined; […]
Press Release: EU-US Safe Harbor Essential To Leading European Companies
NEW FPF STUDY DOCUMENTS OVER 150 EUROPEAN COMPANIES PARTICIPATING IN THE US-EU SAFE HARBOR PROGRAM. FROM MAJOR EMPLOYERS SUCH AS ALCATEL LUCENT, ADIDAS, BMW, NOKIA TO FAST-GROWING START-UPS LIKE APP DEVELOPER MIND CANDY, EUROPEAN COMPANIES DEPEND ON EU-US AGREEMENT _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Future of Privacy Forum has conducted a study of the US-EU Safe Harbor program […]
FPF Applauds Department of Commerce For Safe Harbor Website Revision
The Department of Commerce has long listed companies’ participation in the US-EU Safe Harbor program in the Safe Harbor List. Within that list, a significant number of companies are marked with the designation “not current.” As FPF wrote in its paper discussing the Safe Harbor, a company can be listed as “not current” for a […]
Essays on Big Data and Privacy
A collection of essays by leading scholars and privacy advocates on the legal, technological, social, and policy implications of Big Data, emerging out of our 2013 Big Data and Privacy…
The LIBE Committee Wants To “Suspend” The Safe Harbor… Along With Thousands of EU Employee Salaries
The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) released a draft report yesterday calling for the European Commission to suspend the US-EU Safe Harbor. FPF has written an in-depth report analyzing the effectiveness of the current Safe Harbor regime and cautioning the European Commission not to revoke the agreement, which has been largely […]
The US-EU Safe Harbor: An Analysis of the Framework's Effectiveness in Protecting Personal Privacy
This morning, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released our report on the effectiveness of the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor program. Our analysis, which we first announced in August, responds to recent recommendations by the European Commission and suggests a number of areas where the framework can be further strengthened. An overview of key findings and […]