Here’s a summary of interesting developments in intellectual property, technology, social media, and Internet law for the week ending December 21, 2018.

How ICANN is Complying with the GDPR

The 2018 passage of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) created stricter regulations for companies to meet when handling the personal and sensitive data of consumers and users. As such, the GDPR has created lasting impact in areas of regulation that were previously not affected by domestic laws. This changed, however, when the European Union passed the GDPR, forcing the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) to create new policies to respond to the heightened security standards.

ICANN is a nonprofit organization that oversees and manages the Internet’s global domain name system (“DNS”). ICANN’s responsibilities include the management of root name servers, introduction of any new generic top-level domains (“gTLDs”), and the creation of new policies that govern and manage the DNS system. ICANN’s policies are recognized internationally, and countries look to ICANN to arbitrate disputes regarding the DNS system as well as to maintain the overall stability of the Internet as it pertains to DNS systems, Internet protocol address spaces, and regional Internet registries.

Since the 2018 introduction of the GDPR by the European Union, ICANN has now found itself tasked with the difficult challenge of reconciling the GDPR’s strict guidelines with the ever-present need for information transparency via the WHOIS database. 

Read the full article here.

What Do You Need to Know About the GDPR?

A European Union Law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into effect May 25, 2018.

The GDPR is the European Union’s new, overarching privacy law and is aimed at giving consumers more control over their personal data in an effort to force companies to provide more transparency over what information they collect as well as to ensure that the personal data collected is well cared-for and adequately protected.

The GDPR affects any organization that collects data on users within the European Union (“EU”), regardless of where the actual service provider is located. As such, as long as a Silicon Valley company is collecting any sort of personal data from users in the EU, that company becomes subject to the GDPR.

The most significant change that the GDPR brings about is that many companies are now asking for your consent to store your personal data.  

Read more here.

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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.