Security breaches

Recent security breaches concerning consumer data in the retail industry have demonstrated the damage breaches of this kind can have on a business’ brand, with potential impact on share price. Such breaches highlight the pressing need for robust data security measures, and the commercial importance these issues can have on an organization’s brand value. It is likely that, as with intellectual property assets 25 years ago, we will begin to see a push, driven by shareholders and proactive management for data assets to be listed as an accounting line item in corporate accounts in the coming year.

Europe

The draft report of Rapporteur Jan Philipp Albrecht on the proposed Data Protection Regulations recently discussed by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament has indicated that the Commission and the Rapporteur strongly support radical changes to the current data protection regime. As we enter the next stage of negotiations for the draft Regulation, this report could have a significant impact, with reforms not anticipated to be finalized until 2015. Within the next 12 months, a roadmap of terms and timelines for the new regime will likely be delivered. We can expect larger penalty capacity and a streamlined, if broader, regulatory framework, but as we know the devil remains in the detail.

See Part I here