Data Protection in the News - April 2020

Expert commentary from Tim Lennard with a roundup of recent data privacy stories
​from around the globe

​This last six weeks have not surprisingly seen the COVID-19 pandemic dominate news.

Regulators have been consumed by consideration and guidance related to the privacy concerns of location tracking technologies and sharing of medical data. In the corporate space, considerations have centred on privacy policies and guidelines related to new work practices, processing of employee health data, and security and privacy protocols related to home workers.

​Several commentators have highlighted the importance of an 'effective working from home' policy to help navigate the risks of potential reduced security and increased data privacy risks resulting from remote working practices.
 
The UK ICO has indicated that they understand that resources, whether they be finances or people, might be diverted away from usual compliance or information governance work. They say that they won’t penalise organisations that they know need to prioritise other areas or adapt their usual approach during this extraordinary period.
 
Meanwhile the ‘normal’ business of data privacy, having taken a back seat from a news perspective, continues to progress.

view full newsletter