Articles

• Kaal, Amina / Klosek, Jacqueline / Waleski, Blaze, U.S. Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights: Principles and Impact, The Obama Administration’s Call for the Enactment of Baseline Federal Privacy Legislation and Its Potential Implications on Existing U.S. Privacy Laws, CRI 2012, 65-72
  On 23 February 2012, the Obama administration announced a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights (CPBR) directed at how private-sector entities handle personal data in commercial settings in the digital economy. The CPBR applies to all commercial uses of ”personal data", meaning any data that can be linked to a specific individual or device, and adopts seven principles as a guide for future rulemaking and legislation. For now, the CPBR does not include enforceable rules, but it is expected to be implemented through legislation and a multistakeholder rulemaking process that will ultimately produce enforceable codes of conduct that companies may voluntarily adopt. After presenting a brief overview of the current sectoral approach of regulating the protection of personal data in the U.S. (I.), this article discusses the Obama administration’s CPBR (II.), and then analyzes its impact on existing privacy rules in the U.S. (III.).

• Towle, Holly K. / Castic, Samuel R., Mobile Commerce Faces Increased Privacy Scrutiny, How the diversity of laws in the United States affects the app market, CRI 2012, 72-78
  In the United States, privacy practices relating to mobile devices are under increasing scrutiny. Highly publicized incidents of undisclosed data collection and tracking by mobile apps have served as catalysts for hearings and proposals by lawmakers, regulatory actions and lawsuits. Ironically, a lack of laws is not the cause of this: the cause is the ever-increasing use of mobile devices and the dawning awareness that existing laws can apply.What are those laws? They are a conglomeration of federal and state laws that create privacy requirements for those engaged in developing, offering or distributing mobile apps, or collecting information through them, to customers in the United States. This article first provides a general overview of the U.S. approach to privacy law and the variety of types of laws that can impact mobile commerce (I.). Next, focusing on mobile apps, it discusses recent FTC developments and a California Attorney General declaration that increases pressure to disclose privacy practices in mobile commerce (II.). Finally, it offers some considerations for those developing or offering a mobile app (IV.). Although the focus of the current pressure is on apps for children, it would be misleading to assume that is the only focus.

• Gercke, Marco, Hard And Soft Law Options in Response to Cybercrime, How to weave a more effective net of global responses, CRI 2012, 78-87
  Cybercrime is a typical transnational crime that – despite legal advancements made in various states – cannot simply be solved on a national level but requires international cooperation. When discussing the need to develop a legal response to the global challenge of Cybercrime the discussion in the past quickly focussed on the question whether there is need for a ”Global Convention on Cybercrime" (I.) without first differentiating between the various elements that need to be addressed and without discussing which instruments are available to introduce them. This article provides an overview over key areas that require a legal response (II.), explains the various legal options in introducing suitable regulation (III.) and shows that the international community has a variety of choices.

• CRI 2012, 87-90
• CRI 2012, 90-93
• CRI 2012, 93-96

About the Authors

• About the Authors, CRI 2012, 96