The General Court of the European Union has annulled the European Commission’s decision to refuse access to text messages relating to COVID-19 vaccine negotiations, stating that doing so violated EU access to documents law and breached the principle of good administration. In early 2021, it was revealed that President von der Leyen had exchanged text messages with Pfizer CEO … [Read more...] about EU Court Rules Commission in Violation of Transparency Law Over von der Leyen–Pfizer Texts
Decisions
ECHR bans general weakening of secure end-to-end encryption
The European Court of Human Rights has banned a general weakening of secure end-to-end encryption, a move that could jeopardize Canada's international trade relations. The EU recently renewed Canada's adequacy status, an important measure to facilitate continued international trade and information sharing between Canada and European nations and companies, but proposed … [Read more...] about ECHR bans general weakening of secure end-to-end encryption
Facebook Vows to Fight the Fine
After a decade of litigation and mere moments after the largest GDPR fine levied to date became public, Facebook Meta vowed to fight the decision of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. In the company's response to the long-awaited decision, Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs and Jennifer Newstead, Chief Legal Officer, announced Facebook intends to appeal both the … [Read more...] about Facebook Vows to Fight the Fine
Predictive surveillance software declared unconstitutional
The use of Palantir's predictive surveillance software by police has been declared unconstitutional by the German Federal Constitutional Court, on the basis that its use violates the right to informational self-determination. The landmark ruling concludes a case brought by the German Society for Civil Rights (GFF) last year, hearings for which began in December. The … [Read more...] about Predictive surveillance software declared unconstitutional
Elections: Political parties gathering and using information about voters
With Ontario elections taking place on June 2, some voters may question how provincial political parties use personal information. They may also wonder what federal parties have done with data that voters gave canvassers in the national election, held in September of 2021. In Ontario, the Privacy Commissioner has no jurisdiction over provincial political parties' … [Read more...] about Elections: Political parties gathering and using information about voters
EDPB adopts Urgent Binding Decision in relation to WhatsApp
Following a provisional measure taken by the Hamburg DPA against WhatsApp, and analyzing WhatsApp's data sharing practices with Facebook, the EDPB determined that "the high likelihood of infringements and the lack of information" justifies the decision to request the for the Irish DPA to carry out a statutory investigation relating to WhatsApp's data processing, including: … [Read more...] about EDPB adopts Urgent Binding Decision in relation to WhatsApp
