The bill on the Data Processing by Partnerships Act ('WSG') aims to provide a legal basis for the processing of personal data by designated partnerships and further constitutes a framework with a number of general rules with regard to the tasks, structure and functioning of these partnerships. Anouschka Van de Graaf, Senior Associate at Dentons, discusses the purposes of the bill, alongside concerns regarding its contents.

With restrictions being lifted across Europe and businesses planning their return to the office, many employers, in an endeavour to prevent the spread of COVID-19, are faced with the dilemma of whether they can require their employees to be vaccinated or to show proof of their vaccination status. Besides the health and safety concerns associated with the introduction of such measures, there are also some key privacy-related considerations. In particular, an individual's vaccination status falls within the scope of health data under Article 4(15) of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) ('GDPR') and is therefore a special category of personal data under Article 9 of the GDPR, meaning processing is generally prohibited, unless an exception applies.

This article outlines the local requirements in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Italy.

On 1 July 2021, an amendment¹ to the Telecommunications Act 1998 (as amended) ('the Telecommunications Act') came into force, requiring opt-in consent to telemarketing. Chantal Van Dam and Femke van der Eijk, from Hogan Lovells, provide a brief overview of what impact the amendment has had on the Telecommunications Act.