Week in Review: July 8, 2016

“Brexit” Creates New Problems for Transferring Data in Europe

The tech industry in the United Kingdom is currently facing a dilemma; leaving the European Union changes the laws regarding the spread of data. The EU has “strict” privacy laws, which prevent companies from transferring data such as “pictures, emails [or] health records” from inside the EU to countries outside of the EU unless the EU deems that these countries provide an “adequate level of protection.” This is not an easy standard; the EU and the United States have been in negotiations for months. While the EU is expected to accept the current deal, in October 2015, the highest court in Europe “ruled that a previous agreement did not sufficiently protect Europeans’ privacy rights.” Despite no change in Britain’s laws, its data policy will become unacceptable to the EU, simply because it is no longer in the EU and it will either have to adopt the current European Union rules regulating data flow to a country outside of the EU, which it is not currently following. On the other hand, Britain could try to follow in the United States’ footsteps and create new rules in hope that the European Union will agree to them. The biggest obstacle is Britain’s Government Communications Headquarter (GCHQ), which has the ability to spy and is part of the Five Eyes alliance. Of course, the United Kingdom could elect to create its own data regulation system and remain independent of the European Union, but analysts believe the resulting limits on data transfers would hurt UK businesses. UK Tech companies already fear how the potential loss of foreign workers may hurt the tech industry; concerns over data regulation further complicate the problem.

Nude Photo Scandal in Trinidad and Tobago Brings Up Privacy Concerns

A recent nude photo leak in Trinidad and Tobago has inflamed the debate around internet privacy and the scope of government powers. Recently, a website leaked a “master list” database of nude pictures from various Trinidadian women, some of whom were young girls. Trinidadian authorities suspect that an internet porn ring was responsible for this, but there was no clear pattern of who they were targeting; some women were celebrities, while some were students. For those that were underage, the Children’s Act gives them a legal recourse against child pornography, but for the adult women, their only option is to take these cases individually to civil court. In March, the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago passed the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Amendment Bill, which granted the SSA more legal power against “cybercrime;” however, the opposition party and some of the independent politicians opposed the bill. Though the bill was passed, it has yet to take effect because Trinidadian law requires a proclamation before a law can take effect. Despite the fact that the law will eventually pass, it does not have retroactive power and therefore, adult women will still only be able to file a suit in civil court.

The UN Promotes Internet Freedom in a Non-Binding Resolution

Last week, the United Nations passed a resolution “condemning countries that intentionally disrupt citizens’ internet access.” The resolution is non-binding, which means that the United Nations will not effectively punish any nation that continues to bl