EU set to agree new data privacy law with stiff penalties

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A sweeping reform of fragmented laws governing the uses of personal data set to be agreed by the European Union on Tuesday will force companies to report privacy breaches to authorities or face stiff sanctions. EU governments and members of the European Parliament are expected to agree the new data protection law, which would replace a patchwork of 28 different laws and give regulators greater enforcement powers

Read more

EU member states agree higher fines for firms for privacy violations

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Businesses operating in the European Union could be fined up to 4 percent of their annual global turnover for breaching data protection rules under a proposal agreed on Wednesday. The EU is negotiating a data protection law to replace a patchwork of national laws dating back to 1995, aiming to set clearer limits on how companies can use EU citizens’ private data and beef up regulators’ enforcement powers. Under the current system, not all national regulators have the power to levy fines, and when they do the amounts are often paltry compared with the revenues of some of the companies affected, particularly big U.S.

Read more

Hacking of U.S. government was criminal, not state-sponsored: China

China's official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that an investigation into a massive U.S. computer breach last year that affected more than 22 million federal workers found the hacking attack was criminal, not state-sponsored. In an article about a meeting between top U.S.

Read more

EU steps up controls on bitcoin, pre-paid cards to curb terrorist funds

The European Union will increase controls on pre-paid cards, money remittances and bitcoin in a bid to curb terrorism funding after the attacks in Paris that killed 129 people. EU interior and justice ministers agreed on Friday in Brussels to tighten checks on payment methods that may be conducted anonymously and might be used by terrorist organizations to finance attacks

Read more

EU privacy regulators give EU, U.S. three months to find new data pact

By Julia Fioretti LONDON (Reuters) – Companies could face action from European privacy regulators if the European Commission and United States do not come up with a new system enabling them to shuffle data across the Atlantic in three months, the regulators said on Friday. The highest EU court last week struck down a system known as Safe Harbour used by over 4,000 firms to transfer personal data to the United States, leaving companies without alternatives scrambling to put new legal measures in place to ensure everyday business could continue

Read more

EU launches inquiry into web companies’ online behavior

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Thursday launched an inquiry into the behavior of online companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to try to gauge whether there is a need to regulate the web. It is not clear whether the inquiry will lead to any regulation of the Internet in the European Union, but it provides more evidence that mainly U.S

Read more

EU strikes data-sharing deal with U.S. for security, terrorism cases

The European Union has struck a deal with the United States on protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes in criminal and terrorism investigations, the bloc's justice chief said on Tuesday. The so-called “umbrella agreement”, following four years of talks between both sides, would protect personal data exchanged between police and judicial authorities and also between companies and law enforcement authorities. European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said the data sharing agreement was a key step to strengthening Europeans' right to privacy.

Read more

End to Brady suspension a game-changer for NFL fantasy football

Tom Brady is back, and for plenty of fantasy football fans his return marks a dramatic shift in strategy. The New England Patriots star quarterback will suit up this Thursday for his team’s season opener, after U.S. District Judge Richard Berman threw out the National Football League’s four-game suspension against him in the now notorious “Deflategate” case

Read more