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Regulatory News
| 1.25.2012 |
eWeek |
EU-Proposed New Data Privacy Laws to Impact U.S. Technology Giants
Proposed new European Commission rules to update the European Union’s 17-year-old data privacy laws are intended to unify data protection laws across all EU member countries, improve online defenses and reduce bureaucracy, but technology companies said the legislation, if approved, would be almost impossible to implement. The proposed changes would impact companies based abroad but that have branch offices and subsidiaries within the EU on how they manage and secure the data belonging to customers and employees.
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| 1.20.2012 |
BBC |
Electronic Waste: EU Adopts New WEEE Law
The update of the 2003 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive gives European Union states until 2021 to reach new targets in an effort to improve e-waste disposal. Specifically, member states will need to increase their collection of e-waste beyond the current flat-rate target of 4kg per person per year, so that by 2016 they will instead have to collect 45 tons for every 100 tons of electronic goods sold during the previous three years. By 2019, the target will rise to a collection rate of 65% of sales from three years previous, although countries have the alternative of collecting a comparable figure of 85% of all e-waste generated.
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| 1.10.2012 |
Pollution Engineering |
Metals, Electronics Recycler Forced to End Discharge of Toxic Pollutants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently ordered metals and electronics recycler Sims Metal Management to end its illegal discharge of toxic pollutants into the San Francisco Bay. EPA inspectors said Sims’ facility at the Port of Redwood City, Calif., has been discharging illegal amounts of copper, lead, mercury, PCBs and zinc into Redwood Creek, a San Francisco Bay tributary, in direct violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act.
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| 1.8.2012 |
Help Net Security |
A Look Ahead at Healthcare Law, Privacy and Security
Industry experts representing healthcare law, privacy, regulatory compliance and data security say they fear that if the right actions are not taken, healthcare data breaches could reach epidemic proportions this year. Class-action litigation firestorms are imminent, experts say, as patients will sue healthcare organizations for failing to protect their personal health information. Economic realities will force healthcare providers to outsource many of their functions to third parties, creating additional regulatory risks.
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| 1.8.2012 |
Newark Star-Ledger |
E-waste Legislation a Boon for Recycling Facilities
During its first year on the books, New Jersey’s law requiring electronics manufacturers to register with the state and pay for recycling based on their market share has already diverted an estimated 40 million pounds of e-waste from landfills and incinerators, a fivefold increase compared to 2010. Since last January, New Jersey has established 450 designated e-waste collection points, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
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| 1.8.2012 |
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review |
New Pennsylvania Law Makes it Easier to Ditch Used Electronics
Pennsylvania’s new Covered Device Recycling Act took effect at the start of the new year. Modeled after similar e-waste laws in 23 other states, Pennsylvania’s law requires manufacturers to plan and subsidize recycling programs with the goal of recycling, by weight, as much e-waste as they sell in new products within the state's borders. Retailers now have to sell only registered items and provide details about how to recycle obsolete items.
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| 1.1.2012 |
Business Insurance |
Data Breach Notification Could Benefit from Federal Action
There is growing consensus that federal legislation is needed to address the 47 different state approaches to data breach notification, experts say, but passage of a comprehensive U.S. bill is less than certain. Harley Geiger, policy counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said any action on data breaches “likely depends on Congress' other priorities and that is going to depend in part on domestic events.”
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| 12.27.2011 |
Stockton Record |
California Raises Red Flags on Some Green Recyclers
Four California recyclers have been cited by the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control during the past three years for "significant" violations, such as storing broken electronics, failing to contain toxic materials while opening gadgets, improper employee training and permitting broken glass and other hazardous debris in work areas, according to documents obtained by newspaper journalists.
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| 12.23.2011 |
Recycling International |
EU Lawmakers Hammer Out Deal on WEEE
European Union officials have backed an agreement on a new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive reached with European Parliament negotiators, sources said. In a fourth and final attempt to reach a second-reading agreement on the proposed WEEE recast, member states and Parliament negotiators agreed to keep the existing method of calculating collection targets until four years after the law’s entry into force, expected to take place in 2012 or 2013. The negotiators also agreed to open the scope of the law after six years.
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