European Data Protection Conference 2020

Conference

Global | November 24, 2020 – November 26, 2020

Our 8^th annual European Data Conference took place from Tuesday, November 24 to Thursday, November 26. This year it was a little different from our usual format and took place via Zoom on each of the days from 13:00 – 14:30 GMT (14:00-15:30 CET).

2020 has been a busy year for privacy professionals, with COVID-19, Schrems II and the end of the Brexit transition period all presenting significant challenges for many of our clients. In a break from these topics, this year’s conference focused on some areas that privacy specialists may currently be less familiar with but which we believe are becoming increasingly important to understand.

Each 90 minute webinar session was recorded. You can watch any of the sessions on-demand by clicking the links below.

	The Programme
November 24	Session 1: Unlocking the value of data – an introduction.
November 24	The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the value of unlocking access to data to achieve a greater good. Many commentators, including the European data strategy published in February and the recent UK national data strategy, have highlighted how wider access to data is key to supporting competition and innovation, especially in areas such as AI and scientific research. In this session, introduced participants to some of the key regulatory initiatives in the push towards more data-driven business practices. We looked at these initiatives from the privacy offices’ perspective – so that the privacy office can prepare for these shifts in government and competition policy. Head of EMEA Data Protection, Privacy and Cybersecurity, Marcus Evans, and Senior Knowledge Lawyer, Janine Regan, were joined by Jay Modrall, an antitrust and competition lawyer based in our Brussels office.
November 25	Session 2: Never mind the fine, what about the litigation.
November 25	Since the GDPR came into effect, most companies that have had to report a personal data breach to the data protection authorities have been mainly concerned about the size of a possible fine. However, for breaches affecting very large numbers of data subjects, the fines issued even under the GDPR may pale in comparison to the damages that might arise out of the litigation claims that are increasingly being brought against data controllers by or on behalf of affected individuals. In this session, we looked at the issues that privacy professionals need to be aware of in relation to litigation arising out of personal data breaches across Europe and important do’s and don’ts for companies anticipating this type of action. NRF dispute resolution specialists, Steven Hadwin and Charlie Weston-Simons joined the panel for this discussion.
November 26	Session 3: A data protection landscape updater.
November 26	This session covered the most significant enforcement actions and new guidance coming from the CJEU, EDPB and the German, Dutch, French and UK data protection authorities. This included an update on the most recent Schrems II developments, the EDPB’s social media guidance, ePrivacy developments and the issues sparking enforcement action and differences in fining practices emerging between member states.