The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs urged the European Commission to deny the U.S. adequacy status based on the proposed EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. MEPs called on the European Commission to renegotiate its data transfer agreement with the U.S. in the recently published draft of their nonbinding opinion, raising issues regarding a lack of equivalent protections and insufficient EU consumer redress.
The European Commission is holding technical workshops on specific issues and questions related to implementation and compliance with the Digital Markets Act. A Feb. 27 workshop will explore interoperability between messaging services and address issues including "end-to-end encryption, security or the identification of users across different messaging services." App store related provisions, such as alternative in-app payment systems, will be discussed during a March 6 workshop. A Dec.
The Swedish presidency of the EU Council of ministers shared new compromise text of the draft Cyber Resilience Act with changes to the categorization of "critical" and "highly critical" connected devices, Euractiv reports. Products that perform a key security function will be considered "critical" under the compromise text, while products with important security functions that are also central to the Internet of Things environment will be classified "highly critical." The Cybersecurity Working Party will discuss the new text Feb.
IAB Europe filed with the Belgian Market Court for implementation of interim measures to protect ongoing work on its Transparency and Consent Framework. In January, IAB agreed to a corrective measures plan with the Belgian Data Protection Authority to bring the TCF into compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
U.S. President Joe Biden renominated U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter to a new term. If reappointed by Senate confirmation, Slaughter would serve a seven-year term retroactive to September 2022.
The Nigeria Data Protection Bureau National Commissioner Vincent Olatunji said his agency is investigating more than 110 companies for potential data breaches, Nairametrics reports.
The Digital Advertising Alliance and fellow privacy self-regulatory groups announced a joint approach to privacy controls and user consent management for websites and mobile apps. The coalition's approach features "interface guidelines and technical specifications" for brands and publishers to "simplify and improve the user experience" through consent management platforms and the AdChoices program.
The Economist agreed to a settlement in a Michigan class-action lawsuit, in which it was alleged the magazine sold subscriber information to third parties without their consent, Top Class Actions reports. The class is comprised of Michigan residents who subscribed to The Economist in either print or digital form between Feb. 4, 2015 and July 30, 2016. Plaintiffs alleged the sale of their subscription information without their consent violated the state Preservation of Personal Privacy Act.
Former Twitter Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran accepted the general counsel position with photo sharing app developer BeReal, Reuters reports. On LinkedIn, Kiernan wrote, “The product, the people, and the potential lured me in.” The Paris-based app maker allows users to upload a daily photo.
The European Data Protection Board published the agenda for its 75th plenary session Feb. 14. Chief among the board's itinerary is elections for its new chair and deputy chair. The board will also discuss its nonbinding opinion regarding the proposed EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework as well as follow-up dialogue on its binding WhatsApp decision.