The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Spring 2019 Cybersecurity Newsletter includes new recommendations regarding how HIPAA covered entities can prepare to defend against cybersecurity attacks such as advanced persistent threats (APTs) and zero-day vulnerabilities ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement developments Botswana and Zambia signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 10 February 2019 at the 32nd summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, whereas the Ethiopian Council of Ministers approved the ACFTA on 2 February 2019 and the Parliament of Senegal on 23 January 2019 ...
In the listed sector, shareholders may be presented with various elections to be made as regards the nature of distributions made by companies in which equity investments are held. Shareholders can therefore be faced with an election to receive payment of a cash dividend, or in lieu thereof, to receive capitalisation shares from the underlying company or to partake in a dividend reinvestment plan ...
Sections 113 and 115 of the Companies Act, 2008 provide for an automatic statutory merger of two companies. The transfer occurs by way of operation of law, and barring any express prohibition to the contrary in a contractual arrangement, no third party consent is generally required to implement the merger. This type of transaction may typically give effect to a desired corporate reorganisation, in terms of which an existing company is liquidated, wound up and/or deregistered ...
The reportable arrangement provisions were established by the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) with the objective of obtaining information on certain types of transactions. The circumstances under which a person should report an “arrangement” to SARS, as defined in section 34 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (the “TAA”), are contained in sections 34 to 39 of the TAA ...
Even before the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, there were discussions as to whether the use of tracking cookies, which make it possible to analyze the usage and browsing behavior of a user on the Internet and use it for interest-based advertising, requires prior consent (opt-in) of the user or whether a dissent solution (opt-out) is sufficient. The German data protection authorities are of the opinion that users must give their consent ...
In a recent decision by the Technology and Construction Court (TCC), Judge Stewart-Smith has clarified the position when determining whether two adjudications are “the same or substantially the same” when a party challenges jurisdiction under Para 9(2) of the Scheme for Construction Contracts. He stated that thedecisionreached in the first adjudication must be considered as well as the disputesreferredto adjudication in each ...
On 13 March 2019, the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Baden-Württemberg (LfDI BaWü) published the latest version of his guidebook on employee data protection. In this brochure, the LfDI BaWü offers an insight into his work and explains his opinion regarding the various points of view surrounding employee data protection ...
Cloud computing and offshoring of data is no longer a taboo among banks. It is becoming a necessity and is the current definitive trend. However, the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”) has issued a directive and guidance note detailing items banks must consider when electing to adopt cloud computing as a service or any offshoring of data ...
The implementation of cybercrime legislation is a pressing issue given that South Africa has one of the highest numbers of cybercrime victims in the world. In addition, a number of unsuspecting individuals and organisations alike fell prey to the scourge of cyber scams which seemed to spike quite rapidly in the past year. The Cybercrime Bill was adopted by the Portfolio Committee for Justice and Correctional Services in November 2018 and sent to the National Assembly for debate ...
The pervasiveness of the Internet of Things has spawned a recent fear that the devices are listening to the conversations of their users. For instance, the My Friend Cayla doll talks to children and answers their questions by connecting to the internet and using a combination of voice recognition software and Google searches to provide these responses ...
Gone are the days when a helicopter had to be hired to secure fantastic shots of a neighbourhood or local stadium in anticipation of a major public or private event. Drones have ushered in a new kind of photography and can be used in many instances and applications even in traditional industries like agriculture or last mile logistics. One of the primary functions of using drones is to capture, store and transmit data ...
Digital rights management (“DRM”) refers to the methods used by content owners to protect their digital content. A number of methods can be used to control and restrict access and usage of digital material. Popular DRM mechanisms include password protecting a digital file/content, as well as platform DRM, which is typically deployed by online streaming platforms and electronic databases to restrict access to content that users are required to pay for ...
It is no surprise that in this digital age, social media is more than a platform to connect with old school friends, share experiences or watch funny videos. Businesses have realised the value in leveraging social media platforms so as to directly connect with and market themselves and their businesses to existing and potential customers. Social media platforms allow businesses to increase their brand awareness and entrench themselves with their clients and secure their loyalty ...
The most important corporate tax measures concern the reduction of the maximum corporate income tax (“CIT”) rate and the introduction of the option provided by the anti-tax avoidance directive (“ATAD”)[1]. This allows for the application of the interest limitation rules at the level of a fiscal unity: For the time being CIT is levied at a rate of (i) 15% in case the net profits do notexceed EUR 25,000 and (ii) 18% in case the net profits exceed EUR 30,000 ...
The fallout from the Illinois Supreme Court’s January 25, 2019, opinion in Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., 19 IL 12316, continues.Rosenbach settled the dispute of who qualifies as an “aggrieved person” under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), and in doing so opened the floodgates for this litigation to proliferate ...
On January 19, 2019, federal Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore of the Northern District of California denied the Government’s application for a search warrant that sought: “all digital devices” present at a California residence; (Order at 3), and “any individual present at the time of the search to press a finger (including thumb) or utilize other biometric features…for the purposes of unlocking the digital devices found in order to permit a search of
We would like to inform you of the new rules of audits/inspections of companies processing personal data approved by the Decree of the Russian Government dated February 13, 2019 No. 146 «On Approving the Rules on Arranging and Exercising Control over Compliance of Personal Data Processing» («Decree»). The Russian Data Protection Authority (DPA) is entitled to investigate companies’ compliance with data protection laws ...
Corporations and governments are ferreting out and squirreling away voluminous, detailed and private information about each and every one of us – and they are not afraid to use it. Should we be worried? Singapore’s Health Minister recently revealed that confidential details of 14,200 HIV-positive people, stolen from a government public health database, had been leaked online by a disgruntled US citizen who had been in a romantic relationship with a local doctor ...
In this context, the judgements provide useful guidance on the concepts of abuse and beneficial ownership. Abuse concept According to the CJEU, it is settled case-law that there is, in EU law, a general legal principle that EU law cannot be relied on for abusive or fraudulent ends ...
Senate Bill 273 goes into effect on March 20, 2019, and creates new requirements for Ohio insurance companies, including health insurance plans, to develop and implement specific information security programs to safeguard nonpublic business and personal information. Senate Bill 273 is based upon the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Insurance Data Security Model Law (also referred to as "MDL-668") ...
The Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2018 (“TLAA”), which was promulgated on 17 January 2018, amended South African tax legislation by overhauling two provisions relating to the reduction of debt, (the “Debt Benefit Rules”), namely section 19 of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “ITA”) and paragraph 12A of the Eighth Schedule to the ITA (the “Eighth Schedule”) ...
When a scion of the investment banking world gets into crypto it is probably worth taking notice. JP Morgan Chase, America's largest bank, has just grabbed everyone's attention with the launch of its very own cryptocurrency, the JPM Coin. JP Morgan intends the internally developed crypto asset to be used in its wholesale payment system, which currently sees daily volumes in the region of $6 trillion ...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently launched a consultation on its proposed guidance on cryptoassets (CP19/3) which can be read in fullhere. The move comes as part of the UK Cryptoasset Taskforce's wider look into the regulation of the cryptoasset market. The consultation follows a report published in October 2018 by the Taskforce, which consists of the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the FCA. Our discussion of that report can be readhere ...
In its decision from February 7, 2019, the Bundeskartellamt prohibited Facebook from the further processing of user data which it has generated from so-called third party sources. In order to make use of these personal data in future, Facebook will need the consent of the data subject as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It remains to be seen whether this will be granted by the majority of users. 1 ...
