Why Nordic DPAs are pushing European regulators for an emergency stand on pay or OK

Is this about having their cake and eating it too? Norway, Netherlands & Hamburg want European regulators to take a position on “pay or consent” (or “pay or OK” or “pay or data”, however you wish to call it), and the Norwegian data protection authority says in this respect that “it will still be possible […]

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How precise linguistics shaped the AG opinion in the Meta v BVV class action

The linguistics” – that’s what I said was intriguing about the AG Opinion in a GDPR class action case (Meta v BVV, CJEU case C-757/22) when Global Data Review asked me for a quote. This case deals with Art. 80(2) GDPR, which allows EU Member States to adopt (if they wish) laws to permit (consumer […]

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Let’s discuss third-party risk management and data governance in Brussels

Are you keen to have a discussion about datagovernance and third-party risk management (AI, cybersecurity, ESG), and will you be in Brussels (or come to Brussels) early March 2024? We are holding a complimentary event on 8 March for businesses and trade associations, with breakout sessions on these topics, as well as (in parallel) sessions […]

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Op-Ed: Maybe no consent needed for advertising under ePrivacy “cookie” rule?

Reading through the CNIL’s new decision against Yahoo on cookies brings back to mind a question that has stuck with me for well over a decade: what is the exact reasoning that has led many EU-based authorities to say that advertising cookies/etc. are not strictly necessary for the provision of a service, and why does […]

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Will businesses speak up during the European Commission public consultation on the GDPR?

It’s finally open: public consultation by the European Commission on the GDPR. Privacy campaigners will be sure to respond – but will controllers & processors? This is your chance to submit comments on what works and what doesn’t. Whether you see weaknesses in the way in which the DPO role is structured (I know this […]

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How a new CJEU judgment alters corporate controllership and contract legal grounds

Interesting new CJEU judgment on “controllership” (but only limited considerations re “joint controllership”) and perhaps incidentally broadening the legal ground of “legal obligation” under the GDPR. The CJEU says that legal provisions can determine the purposes and means “at least implicitly”, which is not exactly what some authorities had considered previously. The context: the Moniteur […]

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Why tech developers and lawyers must identify the exact problem before adopting AI tools

As a Data/Tech lawyer and software developer, I love innovation. But I am also cautious about using solutions without first knowing which problem precisely they will solve – or using technology without first thinking about issues that may arise from their use. I have been helping companies on the use of artificialintelligence tools for several […]

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Why requiring ePrivacy consent for basic user interfaces makes no logical sense

Surely you don’t need consent to display a user interface? UIs illustrate issues re the EDPB’s strict ePrivacy guidelines, combined with a strict approach re consent exemptions. After all: – UIs are programming instructions (e.g. in HTML, CSS, Javascript in the case of websites) so that your browser / OS / … knows how to […]

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Why your digital business is heavily impacted by the expansive EDPB ePrivacy guidelines

Just over two weeks to go to comment on the extremely extensive ePrivacy guidelines of the EDPB, now covering pretty much any interaction with the Internet or a computer. Working on one anonymised response in particular to integrate concerns of certain organisations, I wonder once more why the EDPB did not seek to better justify […]

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Essential updates for your corporate terms and privacy statements this new year

With the New Year comes a reminder that many companies update their contractual terms / privacy statements / etc. around this time – so keep track of what is happening. [A while ago I built a monitoring tool for one client to automatically keep them informed of updates (even small ones) to various legal documents […]

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