Co-authors: Timothy Faries and Steven Rees Davies (Appleby)
The Personal Information Protection Act 2016 (Bill) was tabled in the Bermuda House of Assembly on 1 July 2016 and underwent its second reading in the House on 13 July 2016.
The Bill is intended to provide a bespoke privacy framework for the protection of personal information in both online and offline environments. This framework both adheres to recognised international standards for privacy protection and recognises Bermuda's growing digital market and unique regulatory environment.
The draft legislation takes into account recent global privacy developments, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the EU-US Privacy Shield and will form a critical component of the jurisdiction's developing cybersecurity laws.
In light of Brexit and the UK's recent decision to leave the European Union, the introduction of information privacy law to Bermuda will be timely and will enable the Bermuda Government to seek confirmation of the jurisdiction's "Adequacy" from the European Union. This would permit the free transferability of personal information maintained and held by businesses between affiliates in Bermuda and member states of the European Union.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.