Well, that’s a wrap on #DPI23 France!

K&L Gates ranked “Recommended” with Claude-Etienne Armingaud.

Source: Leaders League

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K&L Gates ranked “Highly Recommended, Band 2/2” with Claude-Etienne Armingaud.

Source: Leaders League

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K&L Gates ranked “Highly Recommended – Band 1” with Claude-Etienne Armingaud.

Source: Leaders League

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This survey follows the CNIL’s announcement on 24 November 2022 that it aims at “better understanding the economic challenges associated with the collection and processing of personal data in mobile applications” as part of its 2022-2024 strategic plan.

The CNIL considered data collection via mobile applications greatly lacks transparency as opposed to cookies collection on websites.

The expected inputs are to be used for the purpose of drafting recommendations to be submitted to public consultation during the second semester of this year.

Concurrently to its ever-active enforcement of website cookie framework, the CNIL also recently started going after mobile applications for their use of personal data, often leverage as a primary source of revenue for free-to-play mobile games. The most recent example being the French mobile game publisher Voodoo SAS, with a fine of EUR3 million for breach of user consent for targeted ads on 29 December 2022. Indeed, the CNIL considered that even when users did not consent to the tracking for advertising purposes, Voodoo still accessed the IDFV (Apple’s “IDentifier For Vendors” (“IDFV”) – an identifier assigned to app operators, which facilitates targeted advertising) and processed browsing information for advertising purposes, constituting a violation of French privacy law and the GDPR.

The CNIL now calls for economic contributions from experts, interest groups, regulatory entities and experienced private individuals in the field. The call for contributions closes on 10 February 2023. Contributions can be submitted by completing a questionnaire and/or a written statement at the following email address: ecodesapplis@cnil.fr.

All contributions will be covered by professional secrecy and will be published in the form of a synthetic and aggregated report.

First publication on Cyber Law Watch with Camille Scarparo.

On 29 June 2022,  Decree n° 2022-946 (the “Decree”) supplemented the regulatory framework resulting from the Ordinance n° 2021-1247 of 29 September 2021 on the legal warranty of conformity for goods, digital content and digital services (the “Ordinance”). Stakeholders have under 1 October 2022 to implement the following measures, aiming at protecting consumers of digital goods.

1. General information about the Ordinance

Implementing two 2019 European directives on certain aspects of contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services and contracts for the sale of goods (respectively Directives (EU) 2019/770 and 2019/771 dated 20 May 2019), the Ordinance aimed to foster the safety of consumers when purchasing both physical and digital goods and, to a lesser extent, to reduce the environmental impact of digital goods.

This Ordinance amended the French Consumer Code in depth, notably by expanding the legal warranty of conformity, which now covers digital products and services but is also applicable to both B2C as well as B2B contracts, when the latter are executed between professionals and non-professionals (i.e. legal entities acting outside of their direct professional activities).

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Individuals having difficulties in obtaining responses to their personal data subject access requests (DSAR) from French telephone operator Free Mobile filed several complaints before the Frenchdata protection authority (CNIL). These requests related to accessing their personal data and objecting to receiving direct marketing messages by electronic means. After its investigations, the CNIL imposed a fine of €300,000 against Free Mobile on 28 December 2021.

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Over the past decade, influence marketing has changed the way advertising is handled by companies. Influencers have entered the marketing world by leveraging massive followings on social media platforms, and brands have recognized the value of the new category of advertising professionals.

Even though the use of influencers has become a mainstay of advertising, French legislation has yet to meet this evolution, resulting in an often opaque legal framework.

The broad spread-out provisions applicable to influencers also generate difficulties in understanding influencers legal status, in particular when they are underage. This notably raises the question whether influencers are employees of the brands they advertise for—and therefore subject to labor law—or if they should be considered independent contractors, with their relationship with brands subject to commercial legislation.

Such opaque legal framework raises questions about the applicable regime, as well as the legal status of influencers. Even though there is no specific regime for influencers, recent legislation was adopted in order to protect children influencers (see our alert here).

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‘Specialist in new technologies’, K&L Gates LLP‘s team has an outstanding reputation for legal advice on innovative technologies and data-related concerns. Claude-Etienne Armingaud and Raphael Bloch are recognised as ‘exceptional lawyers who miss no details and who know their fields to perfection’. Claude-Etienne Armingaud has developed particular knowledge of multijurisdictional transactional matters dealing with IT outsourcing and data protection for blockchain and fintech, connected cars, and big data services.

Leading individuals: Claude-Etienne Armingaud – K&L Gates LLP

Practice head(s): Claude-Etienne Armingaud

Other key lawyers: Raphael Bloch

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Quoted by Global Data Review:

Claude-Étienne Armingaud, a partner at K&L Gates in Paris, said the decision would have little impact in practice.

“The new sections adopted in July 2021 are implementing specific and targeted data retention requirements which should therefore comply with both the ECJ decisions and the Constitutional Council decision of today,” he said.

“So, if anything, it’s a tardy decision that was expected and confirmation that the Government did well to anticipate this.”

Read full article here.