Here's a summary of interesting developments in intellectual property, technology, social media, and Internet law for the week ending November 16, 2018.

Proposed Australian Privacy Bill Raises Privacy Concerns

While the United States continues to struggle to pass any type of overarching and complete data privacy regulation or legislation, U.S. companies have often had to rely on, or conform to, foreign regulations regarding data security. The most famous example of this comes from the European Union’s passage of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Most privacy experts, domestic and abroad, have lauded the European Union’s creation of the GDPR because it provides strict privacy protection and promises hefty fines for technology companies that fail to safeguard consumer data. Technology giants like Facebook have already faced heavy scrutiny under the GDPR with its recent breach potentially costing it billions in fines. 

Australia’s recent foray into data security legislation, however, has raised concern among privacy experts because it effectively requires technology companies to incorporate backdoor access into their products and applications in order to allow government agencies and services to quickly access and search through consumer data. In its current form, the bill does not require companies who include the requisite backdoor access to notify consumers of the existence of such government accessibility.

Find the full article here.

Congressman Pens Privacy Bill of Rights

Representative Ro Khanna from California has penned a list of ten guiding principles that he hopes to serve as an Internet Privacy Bill of Rights aimed at protecting the privacy of consumers online.

The proposed bill calls for Internet neutrality, the consumers’ right to choose Internet service providers, an overhaul and greater transparency in the policies of how data is collected by technology companies, requirements to opt-in and provide consent for data collection, and timely notification by companies if security breaches occur. Many consumers and lawmakers alike agree that a federal law overseeing how companies handle consumers’ privacy and data rights is long overdue in the United States.

Read more here. 

Click to read last week's Weekly IP Buzz. View on LinkedIn.

For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.

--------

Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and business law firm located in Dallas, Texas. He also co-founded Project K, a charitable movement devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time, and publishes Thriving Attorney, a blog dedicated to exploring the business of the practice of law, productivity and performance for attorneys, and other topics such as law firm leadership and management, law firm culture, and business development for attorneys.

Click to learn more about Darin M. Klemchuk's law practice as an intellectual property lawyer.