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Insights March 2024

The AI Act is adopted, what to do now?

On March 13th the EU Parliament adopted the AI Act, marking a significant milestone in shaping the region's AI landscape. The Act will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and 20 days after publication, the AI Act will enter into force. Although it will take two full years until the grace period passes and almost all provisions will be applicable, AI providers should be aware of the detailed schedule of applicability. In addition, as the AI Act has extraterritorial scope, it does not only concern the 27 Member States of the European Union, but any AI provider worldwide whose AI systems are placed on the market or put into service in the EU. The first deadline expires in six months, as the rules

Insights February 2024

Google ends geofence warrants

Location data has become an integral part of everyday digital life, providing easier navigation through various digital tools, such as maps. Despite the importance of making navigation easier, the need to preserve data privacy, such as location data, has been cast to the shadows. In light of this misuse of our private data, Google is finally set to implement a ground-breaking update for its widely used mapping service, Google Maps. The update relates to a change in the way Google stores data: instead of on the cloud, data will be stored on users’ devices. The anticipated update aims to prevent authorities from accessing users’ location history data through geofence warrants, which have long been considered controversial

Insights February 2024

Recent regulatory developments regarding the use of body cameras in Hungary

The use of body cameras by law enforcement (both police forces and local government) and private security services started almost two decades ago and has been becoming more and more ubiquitous globally. It is of course a challenge in terms of privacy, as it is not only a relatively new technology where the social discourse has not had the time to form a common societal position, but it is also very invasive as in most cases people interacting with the wearer do not have the choice to use or not use the camera system. National and international authorities are just starting to form their opinion and issue guidelines on the use of body cameras, that is why it is notable that the Hungarian data protection authority

Insights May 2023

Five years of GDPR: An overview of GDPR implementation in Romania

As May 2023 marks the fifth anniversary of the implementation of GDPR[1], we have prepared an overview of the five years of regulatory struggle in Romania since the regulation came into effect. By examining the value of the sanctions and the types of violations, we can identify some regulatory trends of the local practice. Statistics on fines In the first year of GDPR (i.e., May 2018–May 2019), the Romanian Data Protection Authority (“the Authority”) did not issue any fines, but only recommendations[2], even if a significant number of ex-officio investigations were performed (namely 336). This was a year of accommodation. In the following years (May 2019–end of 2021), the Authority continued to carry

News May 2023

Kinstellar announces new promotions to Partner and Counsel

Kinstellar is delighted and proud to announce the promotions to Partner of Tomáš Melišek (Bratislava), Levente Hegedűs (Budapest), Bulut Girgin (Istanbul), Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, Natalia Kirichenko, Oleg Matiusha, Illya Muchnyk (all in our Kyiv office), and to Counsel of Dominika Bajzáthová (Bratislava). PARTNERS Tomá š Melišek, Bratislava Tomáš is the Head of the local Banking & Finance service line. He has 15 years of experience in banking and finance, focusing on project and acquisition financing as well as on financial regulations. Tomáš has substantial experience advising clients on significant financing transactions in the areas of real estate, energy, infrastructure, automotive, media

News February 2023

Kinstellar announces new promotions to Managing Associates and Senior Associates in the Czech Republic

Kinstellar is delighted to announce the promotion to Managing Associate of Martin Holub and Václav Kment, and the promotion to Senior Associate of Tereza Mašková, Matěj Večeřa and Jakub Šťastný in our Prague office. With these promotions the firm acknowledges their dedication, teamwork, consistent high level of client service, legal knowledge and transactional expertise. Martin Holub focuses on real estate, in particular real estate transactions and commercial lease agreements. Assisting clients in drafting, reviewing and negotiating of various agreements, such as share purchase, lease for office premises, development management, construction, and other real-estate related documents. Václav Kment

Insights January 2023

NIS 2 Directive – What you need to know

On 27 December 2022, the Directive on “measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the Union”, repealing Directive (EU) 2016/1148 (the “NIS 2 Directive”), was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The NIS 2 Directive builds on a previous NIS Directive adopted in 2016 expanding its scope to other entities. Due to a rising number of cybersecurity incidents as well as ongoing increased digitalization, the aim of the NIS 2 Directive is to cover more economic sectors and to introduce additional security and reporting requirements across all EU Member States. Member States will have until 17 October 2024 to transpose the NIS 2 Directive into their national laws. Our specialists

Insights May 2022

Czech Cyber Security Agency Issues Warning on Use of Smart Meters from Non-EU/NATO Countries

On Monday, May 30, the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB) issued a fresh warning on potential cybersecurity threats stemming from the use of energy-related technical or software smart metering tools (i.e. smart meters) that do not come from countries deemed to have “trustworthy” legal environments (report available in English here). Assessing the most recent risk to be “High” the NÚKIB’s warning called on so-called obligated entities to “immediately start preparatory work to deploy technology enabling the required level of direct metering,” – meaning types B, C1, C2 or C3, as per the Czech government’s Decree No. 359/2020, on electricity metering. The NÚKIB utilised an existing

Insights May 2022

Transposition of New Deal for Consumers (Omnibus Directive, SGD, DCD)

Nearly a year has passed since the lapse of the transposition period for the Digital Content Directive and the Sale of Goods Directive, which brought important changes to national consumer protection rules. However, many jurisdictions still have not implemented the Directives. We are closely monitoring the implementation process in our EU jurisdictions. Below is an overview of the implementation status of the Directives in the remaining EU Member States where Kinstellar operates that have not yet implemented the Directivesand a brief summary of the main changes and the expected country-specific implications for business. In addition, we bring you information from several non-EU countries that have taken inspiration from the

Insights May 2022

Cookies: New Legislation

With France and Austria deciding on data protection issues in relation to Google Analytics, many more countries have followed suit in relevant changes to so-called web browser cookies. In order to limit the amount and quality of data retrieved by providers from users, mainly without them realising the true scope of this data and the use of such data by providers, legislators are passing stricter rules on data collection. Below is an overview of new legislation adopted to combat the extensive collection and usage of user data: Bulgaria The current legislative environment provides a more relaxed opt-out model of user consent regarding the use of cookies.

Insights May 2022

Misinformation in cyberspace

Since the war in Ukraine became the main subject of newspaper headlines, the amount of related misinformation spread online has reached new heights. As a result, several governments have adopted legislation that provides tools to combat the spread of misinformation.  Below is an overview of legislation used to combat misinformation in the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions: Bulgaria It is worth noting that on 1 March 2022 the Bulgarian electronic media watchdog decided to suspend the distribution of TV channels “Russia Today” and “Sputnik” in line with the EU response to Russian military activity in Ukraine.

Insights May 2022

Cybersecurity in Emerging Europe and Central Asia

With the invasion of Ukraine and a substantial increase in cyberattacks on governments, critical infrastructure and other strategic targets, the topic of cybersecurity has gained even more importance. Below is an overview of the steps that national security authorities have taken to strengthen national security. Bulgaria On 24 November 2021, the Bulgarian government designated the State e-Government Agency as a national coordination centre for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2021/887. The establishment of the coordination centre is expected to contribute to achieving a high level of network and information security, thus boosting the standards and