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AFP: US, EU sign airline passenger data sharing deal

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The United States and the European Union have signed a draft pact on sharing passenger data for flights between the two continents, which both sides have welcomed as a significant step forward.

The agreement, which must be adopted by the European Council and parliament, aims to combat transnational crime and terrorism while improving data protection, according to a European Union statement.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU commissioner for home affairs, said Monday that the deal “contains robust safeguards for European citizens’ privacy, without undermining the effectiveness of the agreement in terms of EU and US security.”

via AFP: US, EU sign airline passenger data sharing deal.

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French National Assembly Votes on Amendments to Data Protection Act : Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

January 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

On January 13, 2011, a Bill (Projet de loi organique relatif au Défenseur des droits) containing several amendments to the French Data Protection Act was preliminarily adopted by the French National Assembly.  If enacted, the Bill would amend several key provisions of the French Data Protection Act, including revisions regarding the powers of the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”), and the role of Chairman of the CNIL.  The amendments are summarized below.

Sanction Authority.  The Bill increases the deterrent effect of the CNIL’s sanctions by explicitly authorizing the CNIL to publish the sanctions it imposes on data controllers.  In addition, the procedure for sanctioning violators would require the Chairman of the CNIL to notify data controllers who breach the law prior to sanctioning them.

Investigatory Powers.  On November 6, 2009, and July 7, 2010, the French State Council (Conseil d’État) annulled several of the CNIL’s sanctions on the grounds that the CNIL’s on-site investigations violated Article 8 of the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (i.e., the right to respect for private and family life).  The State Council ruled that data controllers must be given advance notice of their right to object to an on-site inspection by the CNIL.  The State Council also ruled that the CNIL may not conduct surprise inspections without notifying the data controller or obtaining the prior approval of a judge.

Further to these rulings, the Bill adds a new provision to the Data Protection Act which would require the CNIL to obtain a court order to conduct an on-site inspection if the relevant data controller objects to such inspection.  However, under exigent circumstances (if, for example, there is risk that the data controller might destroy or conceal evidence), a judge may authorize a surprise inspection without advance notice to the data controller.

via French National Assembly Votes on Amendments to Data Protection Act : Privacy & Information Security Law Blog.

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White House Council Launches Interagency Subcommittee on Privacy & Internet Policy « USDOJ: Justice Blog

October 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to promoting the vast economic opportunity of the Internet and protecting individual privacy, the National Science and Technology Council has launched a new Subcommittee on Privacy and Internet Policy. Populated by representatives from more than a dozen Departments, agencies and Federal offices, and co-chaired by the two of us, the subcommittee will develop principles and strategic directions with the goal of fostering consensus in legislative, regulatory, and international Internet policy realms.

In this digital age, a thriving and dynamic economy requires Internet policies that promote innovation domestically and globally while ensuring strong and sensible protections of individuals’ private information and the ability of governments to meet their obligations to protect public safety.

Recognizing the global nature of the digital economy and society, the Subcommittee will monitor and address global privacy policy challenges and develop approaches to meeting those challenges through coordinated U.S. government action.  The Subcommittee is committed to fostering dialogue and cooperation between our Nation and its key trading partners in support of flexible and robust privacy and innovation policies. Such policies are essential to the health of competitive marketplaces for online goods and services.

via White House Council Launches Interagency Subcommittee on Privacy & Internet Policy « USDOJ: Justice Blog.

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Data protection: how to bring Americans and Europeans closer together?

October 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Though the Swift data privacy issue not forgotten, Europeans and Americans are trying to overcome their data protection differences via a possible police and judicial co-operation agreement. At a Civil Liberties Committee hearing on Monday, MEPs debated a draft negotiating brief proposed by the Commission to the Council. Parliament will have a right of veto over the final agreement.

“We would like to adjust the trajectory” with this agreement, said rapporteur Jan-Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, DE), the new text of which “must remedy certain shortcomings which we have identified in recent years”. Simon Busuttil (EPP, MT), welcomed a “change of approach” by the US authorities: “one year ago, the United States seemed unaware of the existence of this Parliament” during debates on the Swift agreement. The Americans “will have to be as flexible as possible, because we shall not be easy partners”, he warned.

Don’t bet security against privacy

Europeans and Americans should not bet security against privacy – “we want both”, said US Ambassador to the EU William E. Kennard. “Neither must take precedence”, acknowledged Alexander Alvaro (ALDE, DE), who wondered where the dividing line should be drawn between “what is legal and what is legitimate, especially when gathering personal data “becomes an end in itself”.

The EU’s Belgian Presidency would like the negotiating brief to be approved in December, said current President of the Council Stefaan De Clerck.

For the time being, “a patchwork” of sector-specific deals and “about a hundred” bilateral agreements

“Today we face a patchwork” of cross-Atlantic data exchange deals, “all of which have proven their worth, but the overall result is not very satisfactory”, said the European Commission Director-General for justice Françoise Le Bail, justifying the Commission proposal. “It’s a real puzzle, which complicates the work of  officials and policemen, as well as the exercise of citizens’ rights” added Mr De Clerck.

“We have different systems but common values” observed  Mr Kennard, expressing concern about certain aspects of the negotiating brief proposed by the Commission. “We fear that a possible retroactive application could compromise the one hundred various agreements already signed. They might have to be reopened and renegotiated”, which could take “years, or indeed decades”, he said.

“I suppose you have a list” of these agreements, said Stavros Lambrinidis (S&D, EL). “Which of them would pose a problem?” he asked, adding that “if all the bilateral agreements more or less comply with the proposed data protection principles”, then “the obstacle should not be too difficult to overcome”.

via Data protection: how to bring Americans and Europeans closer together?.

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Metadata is Subject to Disclosure Pursuant to Washington’s Public Records Act : Electronic Discovery Law

October 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

O’Neill v. City of Shoreline, 2010 WL 3911347 (Wash. Oct. 7, 2010)

In this case of first impression, and only the second of its kind in the country, the Supreme Court of Washington held that metadata is subject to disclosure pursuant to Washington’s Public Records Act (“PRA”).

On September 14, 2006, Diane Hettick, a private citizen, sent an email to Lisa Thwing, a private citizen, containing criticism of the Shoreline City Council (“the Council”).  Thwing forwarded that email to herself and then to Shoreline Deputy Mayor Maggie Fimia and others using the blind carbon copy function.  As a result, only Thwing’s name appeared as a recipient to the email.  As outlined in the dissent to this case, the email to Fimia was unsolicited and was received “at home on her personal computer.”  At a public meeting of the Council, Fimia referred to the email and erroneously identified Beth O’Neill as the author.  Ms. O’Neill immediately denied being the author and made an oral request for the email, to which Fimia readily agreed.  After returning home, Fimia forwarded the email to her personal address, removing the “to” and “from” lines identifying Thwing, and then forwarded that email to City of Shoreline (“the City”) staff.  The email was produced to O’Neill in hard copy.  Unsatisfied, O’Neill requested all information relating to the email, including information regarding senders and recipients.  The original email was then produced in hard copy.  Still unsatisfied, O’Neill requested the attendant metadata.  Unfortunately, by that time the original email had apparently been inadvertently deleted, thus rendering the requested information unavailable.  Despite the subsequent receipt of yet another version of the email and the metadata extracted from the computer of one of the other, original recipients of the email from Thwing, O’Neill filed suit alleging a violation of the Public Records Act.  The trial court found in favor of the City.  On appeal, the Court of Appeals held that metadata was subject to disclosure and, more specifically, that the metadata associated with Thwing’s original email to Fimia was subject to disclosure and reversed the trial court.  Upon the City’s and Fimia’s appeal, the case went before the Supreme Court.

via Metadata is Subject to Disclosure Pursuant to Washington’s Public Records Act : Electronic Discovery Law.

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Biometric identification faces real-world hurdles – USATODAY.com

September 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Released Friday by the National Research Council, the ” Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities” report headed by Hewlett-Packard chief Joseph Pato concludes all biometric recognition technologies are “inherently fallible.”

“A lot of things possible on a TV series just don’t work that way in real life,” says panel member Bob Blakley of researcher Gartner, in Stamford, Conn. “While there are lots of good uses for biometric recognition, there are lots of ways to create systems that waste time, cost too much and don’t work very well.”

Fingerprints are the best-known example of a biometric recognition marker — a physical trait that can serve to identify people reliably, such as facial features, voice, signature and even walk. “Biometric recognition has been applied to identification of criminals, patient tracking in medical informatics, and the personalization of social services, among other things,” notes the report.

Federal agencies such as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are funding research in improved biometric screening, but the report cautions they’re not doing basic research into whether the physical characteristics involved are truly reliable or how they change with aging, disease, stress or other factors. None look stable across all situations, the report says. Deployment of biometric screening devices at airports (which is not currently planned), borders or elsewhere without understanding the biology or the population being screened may lead to long lines, false positives and missed opportunities to catch criminals or terrorists, suggests Blakley.

via Biometric identification faces real-world hurdles – USATODAY.com.

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Panel Recommends the ABA Accredit Overseas Law Schools | National Law Journal

August 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The American Bar Association is already tasked by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit U.S. law schools. Now an ABA committee has recommended that it should seriously consider expanding that power to overseas law schools that follow the U.S. model.

In June, the ABA’s Council of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar appointed the committee of law professors, attorneys, judges and law deans to examine whether foreign law schools should be allowed to seek ABA accreditation. The council is scheduled to consider the committee’s recommendations in December.

The committee cited an earlier ABA report’s conclusion that state supreme courts and bar associations are under more pressure than ever to make decisions about admitting foreign lawyers as the legal profession becomes more globalized.

“Such an expansion would provide additional guidance for state supreme courts when lawyers trained outside the United States seek to be allowed to sit for a U.S. bar examination,” the committee said in its report. “Since that is a key function of the accreditation process generally, the expansion would be consistent with the historic role of the section in aiding state supreme courts in the bar admissions area.”

via Panel Recommends the ABA Accredit Overseas Law Schools.

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Los Angeles adopts Google e-mail system for 30,000 city employees

October 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously today to outsource its e-mail system to Google Inc., making it the largest city in the nation to make the move and handing the Web search giant a major victory in its quest to become a software provider to the world’s cities and businesses.

After more than two hours of debate, council members voted 12-0 to approve the $7.25-million contract that would move all 30,000 city employees to Google’s so-called cloud over the coming year.

“The City of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the nation, made a world-class decision today to support a state-of-the art e-mail system,” said Councilman Tony Cardenas, who made the motion to approve the Google system.

via Los Angeles adopts Google e-mail system for 30,000 city employees | Technology | Los Angeles Times.

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