Data Protection

Abstract

More than ever it is crucial that organizations manage and safeguard personal information and address their risks and legal responsibilities in relation to processing personal data, to address the growing thicket of applicable data protection legislation.

A well-constructed and comprehensive compliance program can solve these competing interests and is an important risk management tool.

This handbook sets out an overview of the key privacy and data protection laws and regulations across nearly 100 different jurisdictions and offers a primer to businesses as they consider this complex and increasingly important area of compliance.

DLA Piper's global data protection and privacy team has the deep experience and international reach to help global businesses develop and implement practical compliance solutions to the myriad data protection laws that apply to global businesses.

Introduction

Welcome to DLA Piper's Data Protection Laws of the World Handbook. We launched the first edition of the handbook in 2012, and following such a positive response have been updating it annually ever since.

We continue to witness a period of unprecedented activity in the development of data protection regulation around the world which will have a profound impact on the way in which global businesses are required to approach the collection and management of personal information.

These changes are being driven largely by cultural and trade considerations and by a struggle to keep pace with emerging technology and online business methods.

Should you require further guidance, please do not hesitate to contact us at dataprivacy@dlapiper.com.

Data Privacy Scorebox

You may also be interested in our Data Privacy Scorebox, a tool to help you assess your data protection strategy. It requires completing a survey covering 12 areas of data privacy, such as storage of data, use of data, and customers' rights. Once completed, a report summarizing your organization's alignment with key global principles of data protection is produced. The report includes a visual summary of the strengths and weaknesses of your data protection strategy, a practical action point checklist, as well as peer benchmarking data.

To access the Scorebox, please visit www.dlapiper.com/dataprotection.

CyberTrak

We are pleased to introduce CyberTrak, an innovative online cybersecurity tool featuring information on cybersecurity-related mandates in 23 key markets around the world. CyberTrak is the inaugural product of Blue Edge Lab^SM*.

CyberTrak provides multinational companies instant online access to critical information about cybersecurity-related laws, regulations and generally accepted standards in 23 key markets in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and in four highly regulated sectors in the US. It also provides brief summaries of requirements, as well as an assessment on enforcement risk and the degree of activity triggering the requirement.

Cybersecurity laws and regulations are evolving rapidly around the world. Companies battling ever more sophisticated cyberattacks face mounting compliance costs and higher risks if they do not keep up with new requirements in all markets where they operate.

CyberTrak is designed to help GCs, CIOs, CISOs, risk officers and legal, technology, IT and procurement departments of multinational companies make better, faster risk management decisions and reduce the costs associated with keeping up with these changing regulatory requirements.

CyberTrak content will be regularly updated three times per year by a global group of more than 50 carefully selected contributors in key jurisdictions (many of them contributors to Data Protection Laws of the World), along with interim updates when major changes occur.

Understanding cybersecurity mandates on a global scale is critical to any multinational company that collects and retains customer data, trade secrets, and other confidential data or operates in a critical infrastructure sector, such as energy, financial services, healthcare and defense/government contractors.

Company-wide CyberTrak access is offered on an annual subscription basis. To register for a free trial or to learn more about CyberTrak, please visit www.BlueEdgeLab.com.

*Blue Edge Lab, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of DLA Piper LLP (US). Blue Edge Lab is not a law firm and does not provide legal services.

GDPR Site

We are proud to present a dedicated site offering DLA Piper's insight into the General Data Protection Regulation, the once-in-a-generation change in EU data protection laws.

Data Protection Blog

If you find this Handbook useful, you may also be interested in DLA Piper's Data Protection, Privacy and Security group's Privacy Matters Blog − a blog featuring regular data protection, privacy and security legal updates to help you remain aware of the most important legal and regulatory developments.

We have over 130 experienced privacy and security lawyers across the globe who are close to the regulations in each of their respective jurisdictions and who regularly post summary articles on their local issues.

To access the blog, please visit http://blogs.dlapiper.com/privacymatters/.

To ensure you receive an automatic email when a new article is posted, please enter your details in the 'subscribe' section found on the blog’s right‑hand sidebar.

Disclaimer

This handbook is not a substitute for legal advice. Nor does it cover all aspects of the legal regimes surveyed, such as specific sectorial requirements. Enforcement climates and legal requirements in this area continue to evolve. Most fundamentally, knowing high-level principles of law is just one of the components required to shape and to implement a successful global data protection compliance program.