Covington & Burling LLP (LexBlog Australia)

Last week, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released guidance on Security-by-Design and Security-by-Default principles for technology manufacturers that was jointly developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency, as well as cybersecurity authorities in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and New Zealand.  The...

Last week, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) released guidance on Security-by-Design and Security-by-Default principles for technology manufacturers that was jointly developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency, as well as cybersecurity authorities in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and New Zealand. ...

On July 26-27, 2022, the Biden Administration hosted a two-day virtual meeting with top trade officials from the 13 other partners of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (“IPEF” or “Framework”)—Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This was the first ministerial...

On July 26-27, 2022, the Biden Administration hosted a two-day virtual meeting with top trade officials from the 13 other partners of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (“IPEF” or “Framework”)—Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This was the first ministerial...

On December 15, 2021, the United States and Australia signed an agreement on cross-border law enforcement demands for data from service providers (“Agreement”).  The Agreement is the second bilateral agreement to be entered into under the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, following the U.S.-UK agreement in 2019. The Agreement also follows the...

On June 24, 2021, Australian parliament passed legislation establishing a framework for its enforcement agencies to access certain electronic data held by companies outside of Australia for law enforcement and national security purposes.  The law paves the way for the establishment of a bilateral agreement with the United States under the U.S. Clarifying Lawful Overseas...

Next week, Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather in person and virtually in Brussels for committee meetings.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Monday and Tuesday, MEPs of the Committee on International Trade (“INTA”) will have an exchange of views with Sabine Weyand, Director-General of DG Trade on...

On December 6, 2018, the Australian Parliament passed a bill that aims to address concerns raised by national security and law enforcement agencies regarding encrypted communications. Introduced in September, the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (the Act) may affect technology companies around the globe.  As discussed in our previous post,...

In August 2018, the Government of Australia unveiled a new proposed bill that would grant the county’s national security and law enforcement agencies additional powers when confronting encrypted communications and devices. The text of the draft Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 (the “Assistance and Access Bill” or the “Bill”) states...

As a sign of increasing localised investment in IoT networks, in recent days both the Scottish Government and Australia’s City of the Gold Coast have announced IoT networks using low power technology solutions.  The Scottish Government’s plan is part of a wider initiative to promote IoT services across the Scottish economy whereas the Gold Coast...

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (“AUSTRAC”) recently implemented a new regulation for digital currency exchange providers operating in Australia called the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Digital Currency Exchange Register) Policy Principles 2018.  AUSTRAC is Australia’s financial intelligence agency and is responsible for the enforcement of Australia’

Should a government be allowed to take away branding rights for a product that is widely acknowledged to be unhealthy?　 That’s exactly what happened in Australia—in December 2012, Australia’s controversial “plain packaging” tobacco law came into force with the enactment of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011.  The Act requires cigarette companies to manufacture and...

By Daniel Cooper, Fredericka Argent and Ezra Steinhardt On 29 November 2012, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner announced that the Australian government passed the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth) (“the Act”). The Act, due to come into force in March 2014, is the biggest reform to Australian privacy law in...

Earlier this week the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) adopted an Opinion on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (“ACTA”) between the EU and its Member States, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Mexican States, the Kingdom of Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Singapore, the Swiss Confederation and the USA. The Agreement...