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Warren Ciantar

U.S. President Joe Biden has recently signed an Executive Order implementing the commitments made by the U.S. in the agreement reached with the EU concerning a new EU-U.S. data privacy framework.
Data Protection and Privacy

The New EU-US Personal Data Transfer Framework

The agreement on a new EU-U.S. data privacy framework between EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden had already been announced on 25 March 2022 (for background, please refer to our previous article The EU-US Privacy Shield: Third Time’s a Charm? - Mamo TCV). However, the stability and longevity of the agreement was questioned by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems who sent an open letter to stakeholders as a warning that the new framework risks being declared invalid, and consequently being struck down by the CJEU, should no reforms to U.S. law take place to…
Warren Ciantar
28th November 2022
The EU Data Act – Not Another GDPR
Data Protection and Privacy

The EU Data Act – Not Another GDPR

On 23 February 2022, the EU Commission proposed measures regulating the use and access of data, not being ‘personal data’ as understood by the GDPR, within the European Union across all economic sectors. The regulation of the use of data is essential given that data continues to be generated yet underutilised. The draft Regulation is to be read in conjunction with the EU’s Data Governance Act. The aim of the Data Act is to lay down common standards on the re-use of data across sectors. In this manner, the Act operates together with other legislation that has failed to address…
Warren Ciantar
30th August 2022
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Telecoms, Media & Technology

Transfers of Personal Data to Third Countries: A Brief look at the New SCCs

This article was written by​ Dr Michael Camilleri, Dr Warren Ciantar and Dr Claude Micallef-Grimaud. Transferring personal data from one EU Member State to another does not entail any formalities in addition to the basic and established requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The reason for this is because all EU Member States are, by default, deemed to offer an 'adequate level of protection due to the robust and mostly harmonised privacy laws in place. The same can largely be said about countries within the European Economic Area (EEA). Transfers of personal data from the EU to the so-called…
Warren Ciantar
14th September 2021
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NewsTelecoms, Media & Technology

Upcoming ‘Digital’ Laws: The Future Is Now

Law is an ever-evolving social construct and remains effective only insofar as it can be updated in a timely manner to keep up with real-life developments. The relevance of laws and their subject matter is always dictated by present-day realities and circumstances. One need only look at some of Malta's oldest laws, such as the Public Weighers Ordinance, the Carrier-Pigeons Ordinance and even the Cereals (Sale) Ordinance, all of which are now obsolete and repealed, to be transported, as if by time machine, to an entirely different era. While looking into the past can offer certain insights, the online world…
Warren Ciantar
7th September 2020
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Telecoms, Media & Technology

The EU-US Privacy Shield is No More

This article was written by Dr. Warren Ciantar and Dr. Claude Micallef-Grimaud.On Thursday 16th July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ('CJEU') ruled that the 'Privacy Shield' agreement allowing for the transfer of personal data between the European Union and the United States of America does not provide sufficient protection from US surveillance to EU citizens.To fully appreciate the context and ramifications of this decision, one must go back to 2013, when a young Austrian privacy activist by the name of Max Schrems raised a complaint against Facebook with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. The complaint centered around…
Warren Ciantar
23rd July 2020
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Telecoms, Media & Technology

Cookies: ECJ Confirms Illegality of Pre-ticked Boxes

The European Court of Justice ('ECJ') has given its preliminary ruling following a request from the German Federal Court of Justice during a case between the Federation of Consumer Organisations ('the Federation') and Planet49 GMBH ('Planet49'), an online gaming company.  The issue concerned the consent of participants in a promotional lottery being organized by Planet49, to:i)    have their personal data transferred to the Planet49's partners and sponsors;ii)   the storage of their information and;iii)  the access of information stored on the users' terminal equipment (be it laptop, desktop, mobile device etc.).The facts of the case were as follows. In order to participate…
Warren Ciantar
9th October 2019