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 can suspend new data transfer pact with U.S. if worried about privacy: Official

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A new data transfer pact between the European Union and Washington will give the EU the right to pull the plug on the deal if it fears the United States is not safeguarding privacy enough, the EU Justice Commissioner said on Thursday. A previous transatlantic data transfer framework, Safe Harbour, was struck down on Oct. 6 by the European Union's top court because of worries about mass U.S.

Read more

Facebook to appeal Belgian ruling ordering it to stop tracking non-users

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Facebook said on Monday it would appeal a court ruling ordering it to stop tracking the online activities of non-Facebook users in Belgium who visit Facebook pages, or face a 250,000 euro ($269,000) daily fine.

Read more

Marriott, Alitrip tie-up to let Chinese travellers book online

By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) – U.S.-based hotel chain Marriott International Inc and Alibaba Group’s online travel booking platform announced a tie-up on Monday, joining a flurry of rivals expanding their presence in China to cater to the country’s growing upper-middle class. China’s economy is forecast to slow to roughly 6.5 percent growth in coming years, but companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd promise direct access to the country’s middle class and what Marriott Asia Pacific head Craig Smith is calling a “land grab” for Chinese travellers.

Read more

EU, U.S. clinch data-sharing deal for security, terrorism cases: document

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and the United States have clinched a deal protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes such as terrorism investigations, according to a document seen by Reuters. The two sides have been negotiating for four years over the so-called “umbrella agreement” that would protect personal data exchanged between police and judicial authorities in the course of investigations, as well as between companies and law enforcement authorities.

Read more

Man linked to JPMorgan hacking in talks to resolve U.S. case: filing

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Florida man accused of running an unlicensed bitcoin exchange and who is among five defendants linked to last summer's massive data breach at JPMorgan Chase & Co is in talks to resolve his criminal case, according to court papers filed Friday. In a court filing in federal court in Manhattan, a prosecutor said Yuri Lebedev, one of two men charged with operating the bitcoin exchange service, was in discussions “regarding a possible disposition of this case.” The filing used language that is usually indicative of plea talks, though cases in some instances can be resolved with deferred prosecution agreements or with charges being dropped. Eun Young Choi, a prosecutor under Manhattan U.S

Read more

Internet firms to be subject to new cybersecurity rules in EU

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Internet firms such as Cisco , Google and Amazon will be subject to a new EU cybersecurity law forcing them to adopt tough security measures and possibly report serious breaches to national authorities, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Read more

Google refuses French order to apply ‘right to be forgotten’ globally

(This version of the July 30th corrects story to read “partly” of a political nature, not “mostly” in paragraph 10) By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google Inc is refusing to bow to an order from the French privacy watchdog to scrub search results worldwide when users invoke their “right to be forgotten” online, it said on Thursday, exposing itself to possible fines. The French data protection authority, the CNIL, in June ordered the search engine group to de-list on request search results appearing under a person's name from all its websites, including Google.com. Google complied with the ruling and has since received more than a quarter of a million removal requests, according to its transparency report

Read more