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Editorial [2000] PLBIRp 20; (2000) 54 Privacy Laws and Business International Report 1

Editorial

Privacy has recently become an issue that one can read about almost daily in national newspapers. Companies that do not respect individuals' privacy face the risk of unwanted publicity (on UK, see p.2). In May, one of the main Internet players, Yahoo, was sued in the US for disclosing an individual's identity. While there is no omnibus privacy law in the US to protect individuals from this kind of privacy breach, Yahoo had clearly breached its own privacy policy.

The problem of overseeing compliance with privacy policies is part of the bigger picture, namely the EU-US Safe Harbour agreement. While an agreement was, in principle, reached in May, the European Parliament's rejection may delay the process (p.9-10).

Due to the EU Data Protection Directive, many non-Member States are also reviewing their data laws. In this issue, we provide you with a European Data Protection Laws Chart, which indicates the latest changes (p.12-13). New European laws include those of Norway, adopted in April, and Denmark, which entered into force at the beginning of July. To add to our series of reports on the new data laws adopted so far in the EU, we bring you a report on Portugal's current law (p.6-7).

Main developments outside Europe include the adoption of Canada's new privacy law for the private sector (p.3-5). The legislation will cover the whole private sector once the Canadian provinces follow the federal initiative. Will it have an influence on the USA?

Laura Linkomies, Associate Editor

PRIVACY LAWS & BUSINESS