GDPR
The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is set to go into effect on May 25, impacting how companies of all sizes collect, store and maintain users' personal data. Specifically, GDPR is a new series of rules and laws designed to strengthen privacy protections for EU citizens. The rules require a company to obtain unambiguous affirmative consent from a user before collecting or processing the user's personal data. Among other provisions, the rules also require a company to alert users of certain types of data breaches within 72 hours of learning of the occurrence and to incorporate privacy-by-design when developing new services, considering privacy and data protection compliance from the project's start.
These EU rules are far more restrictive than the online privacy regime currently enforced in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission. While the EU has a fairly broad definition of what constitutes "personal data" — including a person's name, photo, posts on social networking websites and IP address — the FTC framework focuses more narrowly on "sensitive data," such as geolocation information, children's information, health information, financial information and social security numbers. In general, rather than requiring opt-in approval for most types of online data collection, the FTC relies more heavily on an opt-out approach.
Although the rules only cover the personal data of users residing in the EU, they apply to all companies that handle that data, regardless of a company's location. And because it generally does not make sense for multinational companies with global user bases and overseas data storage facilities to have a separate playbook for the EU, a number of major companies are treating GDPR as their new worldwide standard.
Companies that are found out of compliance with the new rules after the May 25 deadline risk being fined 4% of their annual global revenue or €20 million, whichever is larger.
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| Congress: | |||
| May 22 | The Committee on Science, Space and Technology will convene a hearing titled "Empowering U.S. Veterans Through Technology." | ||
| May 22 | The Committee on Energy and Commerce will convene a hearing titled "Internet of Things Legislation." | ||
| May 22 | The Joint Economic Committee will convene a hearing to examine breaking through the regulatory barrier, focusing on what red tape means for the innovation economy. | ||
| May 23 | The Committee on Financial Services will convene a hearing titled "Legislative Proposals to Help Fuel Capital and Growth on Main Street." | ||
| May 24 | The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will convene a hearing to examine cybersecurity, focusing on risks to the financial services industry and its preparedness. | ||
| The courts: | |||
| May 21 - 25 | With closing arguments having wrapped in the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit | ||
| Industry events: | |||
| May 21 - 24 | The Wireless Infrastructure Association will host its Connect (X) event that "convenes the buyers and sellers of connectivity solutions, and showcases the innovative technology, underlying infrastructure, and partner ecosystem driving the future of communications." | ||
| May 23 - 24 | The Advanced Television Systems Committee will host its annual Next Gen TV Conference. | ||
| May 24 | WifiForward will have a discussion on the topic of unlicensed spectrum. | ||
| May 24 | The Federal Communications Bar Association's Internet of Things and Privacy and Data Security committees will host an event on artificial intelligence, machine learning and policy. | ||
| Cybersecurity events: | |||
| May 22 - 23 | Advisen will hold its Cyber Risk Insights Conference, which will address the critical privacy, network security and cyber insurance issues confronting risk professionals and their organizations. | ||
| May 24 | The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers will host a deep learning and security workshop as part of its 39th Symposium on Security and Privacy. | ||
Stories of note:
House lawmakers say full ban on ZTE, Huawei could hurt US telecom providers
CBS girds for longer fight after judge denies order against National Amusements
Cambridge Analytica 'specialized in disinformation,' former insider testifies
Cell tower companies see little to fear from T-Mobile/Sprint merger

