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On 1 May 2018, the “Information Security Technology – Personal Information Security Specification” (PI-Specification) by China’s National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee (NISSTC) will come into effect. The PI-Specification, inter alia, provides guidance on the collection, storage, use, transfer and disclosure of personal information. While the PI Specification is voluntary and not legally binding, it is likely that Chinese regulators will take into account breaches of the PI Specification when enforcing cybersecurity obligations.

The requirements for the collection, use, and storage of personal information are briefly outlined below.
Continue Reading China Issues New Standards on Personal Information Security

On 7 November 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has formally passed China’s first comprehensive privacy and security regulation for cyberspace. Since the new Cyber Security Law (CSL) will come into effect on 1 June 2017, technology companies that are operating in or planning to expand to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) are well advised to adapt their IT infrastructure and data architecture to the new law. Violations of the law may, at worst, lead to high fines, website shutdowns or license revocations. Some of the most significant changes brought about by the new law are briefly outlined below.
Continue Reading China Adopts New Law on Cybersecurity

According to press reports, German car giant Volkswagen has banned its employees from using the wildly popular smartphone app Pokémon GO during work hours. Reportedly, the company cited impaired attention and distraction from work as the primary grounds for the prohibition, but data security and privacy issues are supposedly involved as well. Volkswagen has not yet made an official statement on the ban.

This app in particular and augmented reality in general pose many legal questions, especially, in the field of privacy law. The most pressing privacy issue with Pokémon GO seems to be the constant tracking of geolocation data. By agreeing to the Pokémon GO Privacy Policy, the user allows Niantic, the company behind the app, to track the user’s “device location […] and some of that location information, along with [the] user name” any time he or she uses the app.
Continue Reading ‘Pokémon GO’ and Privacy Issues