Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP (LexBlog Belgium)

On January 15, 2024, the European Commission released its “report on the first review of the functioning of the Adequacy Decisions adopted pursuant to Article 25(6) of Directive 95/46/EC.”

On January 13, 2021, Advocate General Michal Bobek of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued his Opinion in the Case C-645/19 of Facebook Ireland Limited, Facebook Inc., Facebook Belgium BVBA v. the Belgian Data Protection Authority.

On November 26, 2020, the Belgian Data Protection Authority signed a cooperation agreement with DNS Belgium. The purpose of the cooperation agreement is to allow DNS Belgium to suspend “.be” websites that are linked to infringements of the GDPR.

On October 29, 2020, the non-governmental organization co-founded by privacy activist Max Schrems, None of Your Business, announced it can now file representative actions and claim damages on behalf of consumers for violations of various laws regarding consumer protection (including data protection law) in Belgium.

On July 14, 2020, the Litigation Chamber of the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the “Belgian DPA”) imposed a €600,000 fine on Google Belgium SA (“Google”) for non-compliance with the right to be forgotten. The Belgian DPA’s investigation was triggered by a complaint regarding Google’s refusal to dereference outdated articles relating to a public figure in...

On August 21, 2019, the Belgian Data Protection Authority published a press release informing of its intention to further investigate a data breach that was notified by Adecco Belgium, a temporary employment agency.

On September 5, 2018, the Law of 30 July 2018 on the Protection of Natural Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data was published in the Belgian Official Gazette.

On January 10, 2018, the Law of 3 December 2017 creating the Data Protection Authority was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. It replaces the Belgian Privacy Commission with the Belgian Data Protection Authority, since the current Belgian Privacy Commission has limited prosecutorial powers and no direct sanctioning powers.

On July 17, 2014, the Belgian government announced that it has finalized a Royal Decree on the establishment of a national Cybersecurity Center to oversee cybersecurity issues in Belgium. The Cybersecurity Center is expected to be operational by the end of 2014.

On October 8, 2013, a Royal Decree was published completing the transposition of the EU Data Retention Directive 2006/24/EC into Belgian law. Compliance with the Royal Decree is subject to a one-year grace period.

On June 25, 2013, the Belgian Privacy Commission and the Belgian Ministry of Justice established a new protocol for the approval of international data transfer agreements.

Hunton & Williams is pleased to announce that Chambers and Partners has ranked the firm in “Band 2” in its 2012 Chambers Europe guide for TMT: Information Technology: Belgium.

On July 13, 2011, the Belgian Privacy Commission signed a Protocol with the Ministry of Justice which significantly simplifies the authorization procedure for binding corporate rules under Belgian law. The new Protocol has just been made public on the Belgian DPA's website.