Privacy Convictions for Google Executives highlights need for Ongoing EU-US Dialogue on Data Privacy & Protection
Posted by M. James Daley at 12:28 PM
0 comments - Categories: Data Privacy | International Concerns
On February 24, 2010, an Italian court convicted three Google executives on privacy violations for violating the Italian privacy code by permitting the online posting of a disparaging video. Convicted were Google Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer and two other executives. Italian Judge Oscar Magi sentenced Fleischer, chief legal officer David Drummond and former Google Italy board member George De Los Reyes to a six-month jail sentence and fines, but suspended the sentence pending appeal.
In what is considered to be the first conviction of chief legal and privacy officers in such a context, Italian prosecutors charged that the executives did not do enough to keep the offensive video off its site. The video depicted teenage boys taunting a classmate with Down syndrome.
This conviction raises questions for a number of internet platforms, and substantially increases the scope of executive accountability and liability for data privacy and protection violations.
This event also underscores the importance of trying to find a practical way forward in managing corporate compliance with data privacy concerns. This was the principal focus of a February 16 presentation by three representatives of The Sedona Conference® Working Group 6 on International Electronic Information Management, Discovery and Disclosure (WG6).
During that meeting, WG6 Co-Chair, Jim Daley and representatives, Amor Esteban and Patrick Kos presented a proposal to the Article 29 Commissioners about structuring a more formal ongoing dialogue with them regarding data privacy and protection issues as they impact the transfer of personal data from Europe to the United States, in particular.
Several Commissioners noted their desire for the U.S. judiciary to consider data protection and privacy and blocking statutes in balancing the privacy interests of Data Subjects with the disclosure obligations of multinational corporations.
The newly elected Article 29 Working Party Chairman, Jacob Kohnstamm of the Dutch Data Protection Commission, concluded by observing that such an ongoing dialogue may result in a “win—win” situation if the EU and the US can work toward complimentary goals of minimization of transfer of personal data, and overall reduction in e-discovery costs as a result. For an interesting commentary on the February 16 meeting, click here.
