Privacy newsletter - Dec. 1

Welcome to the latest edition of the Privacy Insider Newsletter. Each week, we send you the latest and smartest news in the world of data privacy.

Here are the top stories you might have missed:

1. New Zealand Privacy Act now in effect

   New Zealand’s updated privacy law took effect Dec. 1. The Privacy Act 2020, which supplants the country’s 1993 law, grants the privacy commissioner increased powers, introduces breach notification requirements and carries potential criminal offenses for violations of the law, among other provisions.
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2. EDPB adopts statement on forthcoming ePrivacy Regulation 

   The European Data Protection Board has adopted a statement on the forthcoming ePrivacy Regulation, which will replace the current ePrivacy Directive. The EDPB, comprising data protection authorities from member states, said the ePrivacy Regulation “must under no circumstances lower the level of protection” offered by the DIrective and should complement the EU Data Protection Regulation in its protections “all types” of electronic communication. 
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3. Facing backlash, Microsoft to amend ‘Productivity Score’

   In October, Microsoft unveiled a feature that allowed companies to see how its workers were using technology. But privacy advocates took issue with the product, “Productivity Score,” after learning managers could access individual user data. Microsoft says it will make changes, and as a result, data will only be viewable in the aggregate and at the organizational level.
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4. Web conference: How to operationalize cookies and stay compliant

   It’s hard to know the right path forward on tracking technologies such as cookies. Google’s news earlier this year that it would phase out third-party cookies by 2022 sent a shiver up many ad executives’ spines. How can organizations gain valuable insights about current or potential customers if third-party cookies are dying? The truth is, cookies are still viable. On Dec. 2, Osano CEO Arlo Gilbert will join industry experts Peter McLaughlin and Dama SImberkoff to deliver insights on how to move forward in “Cookies Aren’t Dead! They Just Need Further Baking,” from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern.
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5. Seattle Times: Time for Washington to pass strong privacy law

   In a piece for The Seattle Times, the newspapers’ editorial board calls for the state’s legislators, the state’s attorney general and State Sen. Reuven Carlyle, a Democrat, to collaborate and get a privacy law passed. The effort has failed twice in legislative sessions, but a new draft bill should be finalized in coming weeks, the report states. The state needs a “strong privacy law that empowers residents, informs them of data sharing arrangements and requires clear, easy ways to opt out,” the board writes.
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6. French DPA fines retailer 3.05 million for GDPR violations

   Last week, the French data protection authority, the CNIL, fined Carrefour France and Carrefour Banque for “various violations of the EU General Data Protection Regulation,” reports Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Privacy and Information Security Law Blog. In total, the retail group will pay 3.05 million euros, following 15 complaints from data subjects between June 2018 and April 2019.
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7. Pending litigation to shape the future of ‘data scraping’

   National Law Review reports on ongoing litigation on data scraping, a practice in which companies take data from websites such as social media accounts to create customer databases on their preferences for advertising purposes. The most well-known example of such litigation may be Clearview, in which the facial recognition company scraped social media accounts to build a database to sell to third-parties. The problem? The technology is new, the privacy law on the books: old. 
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8. List catalogs largest hacks, breaches in 2020 

   ZDNet reports on the biggest data breaches of 2020. “As a large swathe of the global population shifted to work from home models and businesses rapidly transition to remote operations, threat actors also pivoted,” the report states. The month-by-month list includes breaches and hacks that occurred at Barnes & Noble, Google and Marriott, among other big-name brands.
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