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Nearly lost in all the drama of the last week or so, we seem to finally have a glimmer of hope on the data protection front. It appears that the US government and EU have agreed modifications to the original text of the Privacy Shield and have indicated that a full settlement of the issue could be reached as early as July. The Privacy Shield is the mechanism that the European Commission and US government have designed to allow the transfers of personal data between the EU and the US and replaces the Safe Harbor scheme which was declared invalid by Europe’s highest court. Whilst we do not know the exact details of the amendments, we have been led to believe that the Privacy Shield covers all EU countries plus the EEA countries (Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland). There is uncertainty as to whether Brexit will lead to the UK becoming an EEA member or not. If so then we should be covered by the Privacy Shield, if not then the UK will have to negotiate its own deal with the US (and, of course, many other countries).

There is still ongoing litigation in the Irish courts related to this issue and in a very […]

According to a recent opinion from the Advocate General (advisor to the highest court in Europe) an IP (internet protocol) address is personal data, if it can be combined with other information that an organisation holds and results in the identification of the person visiting the website.

If you have cookies on your website which collect IP addresses, then this may be an issue for you. If you are processing personal data using cookies, it must be reflected in your Privacy Policy and you may also need a cookie pop up for first time users to your website.

If you would like to discuss IP addresses or any other data protection query, please contact Probert Legal Limited – experts in data protection law covering Exeter, Devon, Cornwall and the rest of the UK, Contact Tracey Wakelam at tw@www.probertlegal.com.

The General Data Protection Regulation was published on May 4, 2016 in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will become law in Europe in 20 days and UK organisations will then have 2 years to ensure that they are fully compliant with its requirements. The text is available here.

If you would like advice on how your organisation can start preparing for the new data protection legislation, please contact Tracey Wakelam at traceywakelam@www.probertlegal.com. Exeter solicitors covering Devon, Cornwall and the rest of the UK.

We reported at the end of last year that the GDPR would be in force by mid-March and so you may be wondering what is happening with its progress. The draft regulation has been the subject of further discussions within the European Council during the last couple of months, but on Friday the Council finally published its opinion on the text. This opinion will be sent to the European Parliament and it is expected that they will put the new regulation into place next week. We will keep you updated!

As experts in data protection law, Probert Legal can help you steer a path through the new legislation and ensure that your systems and procedures are robust.

For further information, contact Tracey Wakelam on traceywakelam@www.probertlegal.com. Solicitors in Exeter covering Devon, Cornwall and the rest of the UK.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (‘the ICO”) published amendments to its guidance for direct marketing organisations last week. The link to the ICO blog on the changes can be accessed here.