The GDPR came into effect almost a year ago on the 25 May 2018. As the most significant reform of data protection law in Europe for over 20 years, the legislation raised expectations of a cultural shift in attitude to data privacy. A year on from the fanfare of implementation, this bulletin looks at key … Read more

Miriam Everett, Head of the Data Protection and Privacy group at Herbert Smith Freehills, has been working with the LexisNexis Data Protection Intelligence Group to publish a paper on Brexit and international personal data transfers: Practical approaches for the private sector in a time of uncertainty. The paper explores how potential new international transfer restrictions (between … Read more

On 23 January 2019, the EU Commission adopted a decision confirming the adequacy of Japanese data protection laws for the purpose of transferring personal data from the EU to Japan in compliance with the international data transfer restrictions set out in Chapter V of the GDPR. Read more

The UK Government has published a “no deal” note to clarify how data protection law will work in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The note confirms that separate draft regulations and more detailed guidance will be published in the next few weeks but, in the meantime, it clarifies at … Read more

On 23 November 2018, the European Data Protection Board (the “EDPB“) published its draft guidelines on Article 3 of the GDPR, being the provision that sets out the territorial scope of Europe’s data protection legislation. The guidelines are only in draft form and subject to consultation but they do go some way to clarifying key … Read more

The UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has issued its first enforcement notice under the EU’s new strict data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (679/2016/EU) (GDPR). The notice is particularly noteworthy because it has been issued against a company located in Canada, which does not appear to have any presence … Read more

On 13 September 2018, the UK Government published a series of technical notes setting out the implications in various sectors and areas of a ‘no deal’ scenario (i.e. a scenario in which the UK leaves the EU without an agreement), including a note specifically covering data protection. The note sets out the actions UK organisations … Read more

On 17 July 2018, the EU Commission (“Commission”) and Japan concluded the negotiations on a reciprocal finding of an adequate level of data protection by both sides. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) which became effective across Europe on 25 May 2018, an adequacy decision adopted by the Commission is one of the ways … Read more