Global Data & Privacy Update - July 2017

• Jurisdiction: Derecho Internacional
• Date: 22 August 2017

Welcome to the July Global Data & Privacy Update. This update is dedicated to covering the latest legislative developments affecting the way data is managed and protected, as well as reporting on the most recent news governing data breaches and industry developments.

Article 29 Working Party guidance on employee monitoring

The Article 29 Working Party has adopted an opinion, which provides guidance on the processing of employee personal data. The opinion has been released to give guidance on the significant challenges to privacy and data protection created by the proliferation of new technologies that enable more systematic processing of employees' personal data at work.

Generally, the opinion emphasises that consent should not be used by employers as a legal basis for processing employee personal data unless employees can genuinely refuse to give their consent without adverse consequences.

It also provides guidelines for different scenarios where employee monitoring might be used. An interesting example discussed in the opinion is the use of social media profiles in recruitment. The paper states that employers should not presume they can inspect a candidate's social media profile, even where it is publically available. Employers need to consider, if there is an appropriate legal basis to process data, whether the profile is for business or private purposes and if the data is necessary and relevant to the performance of the job. It also recommends that the data is deleted as soon as an offer of employment is either not made or rejected, and that individuals should be informed of this type of processing before the recruitment process is started.

Click here to open the Article 29 Working Party website from which the opinion can be downloaded.

ICO International Strategy 2017 - 2021

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published its international strategy for the next four years, recognising that to effectively protect the UK public's personal information in a digital global environment, the ICO needs to co-operate and act internationally.

Part 1 of the strategy sets out the ICO's key challenges and priorities in tackling the digital global environment.

From a European perspective, the plan addresses how the ICO intends to continue to operate as an effective and influential data protection authority at European level while the UK remains a member of the EU and when the UK has left the EU, or during any transitional period.

From a...