On November 10, 2010, the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law’s International Committee and Corporate Counseling Committee hosted a webinar on “Regulating Privacy Across Borders in the Digital Age: An Emerging Global Consensus or Vive la Difference?”.  A panel of senior officials and private sector experts provided insights on emerging cross-border data privacy and security issues.  Hunton & Williams partner Lisa Sotto was tapped to moderate an outstanding panel which included Billy Hawkes, Commissioner, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Ireland; Jennifer Stoddart, Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Canada; Hugh Stevenson, Deputy Director, Office of International Affairs, Federal Trade Commission; and Bojana Bellamy, Director of Data Privacy, Accenture (UK) Limited.  The high-profile speakers explored various privacy issues that have raised regulatory concerns around the world, including issues on behavioral advertising, cloud computing and data breaches.

Taken from a portion of the webinar, each panelist addressed their thoughts on the major issues that will dramatically change the privacy landscape over the next year.  In addition, they further discussed the revisions proposed in the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications.