Council of Europe: Cyber Digest – 15-28 February 2018

Cybercrime Digest
Bi-weekly update and global outlook by the
Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) 15-28 February 2018
Source: Euractiv
Date: 27 Feb 2018
Not yet in effect, Europe’s new data protection rules
already face overseas threats
“The United States government will soon decide whether to permit itself to violate
European data protection laws, potentially undermining both the fundamental rights of
European Union citizens and international law. At issue is whether a US court can
compel the production of electronic communications stored in the EU, when the
disclosure of that information would violate the data protection laws of the EU or one of
its member states. To ensure the protection of personal data within the EU,
policymakers must shape foreign and international rules governing cross-border access
to data. This week, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v.
Microsoft Corporation. […] How should European policymakers respond to this
dilemma? A solution already exists: The modernization of MLATs. These treaties allow
one country to lawfully obtain evidence for criminal investigations and other legal
proceedings from another country. […] European policymakers should encourage and
influence the drafting of a new protocol to the Council of Europe’s Convention on
Cybercrime. This treaty was designed to facilitate international cooperation in the
prevention and investigation of cybercrime.” READ MORE
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NextGov, Microsoft, DOJ at Supreme Court for Overseas Data Warrants, 27 Feb 2018

Source: EU
Neighbors South
Date: 19 Feb 2018
CyberSouth to host a Launching Conference during
March in Tunisia
“CyberSouth is getting started! During 21-23 March 2018, the Launching Conference of
the joint European Union and Council of Europe project will be organized in Tunis,
Tunisia. The Conference aims to exchange views on cybercrime policies and strategies
of priority countries under the project, in order to guide project activities, and also to
determine the support to be provided through the CyberSouth project. Representatives
from Parties to the Budapest Convention will also participate to share their experience
with the countries from the Southern Neighbourhood region. Harmonized legislation
and strong institutional capacities are key for an effective international cooperation on
cybercrime and electronic evidence. The launching conference will serve to adopt a
work plan that will contribute to the strengthening of legislation and institutional
capacities of the priority countries of the project.” READ MORE

Source: ICT Frame
Date: 28 Feb 2018
Nepal to sign international cybercrime prevention
convention soon
“The Attorney General’s Office of Nepal has organized a 3 day workshop (26-28 Feb.,
2018) in Kathmandu with the title “Cybercrime Legislation in Nepal” to discuss how to
improve the national cybercrime laws in the light of international standards, and
strengthen criminal justice response to cybercrime challenges. The workshop,
organized with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe under the
http://www.coe.int/cybercrime C-PROC Cybercrime Digest 15-28 February 2018
2
project GLACY+, follows on an ongoing dialogue between the Council of Europe and the
Attorney General’s Office about the current legislative framework on cybercrime and
electronic evidence. Opening the Workshop, the Attorney General of Nepal, Hon’ble Mr.
Agni Prasad Kharel reminded […] “We all are aware that the government of Nepal
accepted paperless governance, e-governance and SMARTs. […] This is a good
opportunity for us to draft cybercrime legislation and incorporate best practices and
fundamental aspects of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime”.” READ MORE

Source: Manila
Times
Date: 19 Feb 2018
Philippines, Senate ratifies cybercrime, tax treaties
“The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading five resolutions concurring
the ratification of five treaties, including the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime which
would prevent syndicates from making the Philippines a “haven” for their illegal
activities. […] Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations, said the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime aims to address the threats
posed by cybercrime and facilitates multilateral cooperation and enhanced collective
capability to suppress cybercrime. “Since cybercrime is borderless, simultaneous and
persistent, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration with other countries is therefore
vital,” Legarda said. “This treaty is very important to protect our people from
cybercrime especially since the country is the number one haven for those committing
child pornography,” she said.” READ MORE

Source: Reuters
Date: 24 Feb 2018
Apple moves to store iCloud keys in China
“When Apple Inc begins hosting Chinese users’ iCloud accounts in a new Chinese data
center at the end of this month to comply with new laws there, Chinese authorities will
have far easier access to text messages, email and other data stored in the cloud.
That’s because of a change to how the company handles the cryptographic keys needed
to unlock an iCloud account. Until now, such keys have always been stored in the
United States, meaning that any government or law enforcement authority seeking
access to a Chinese iCloud account needed to go through the U.S. legal system. Now,
according to Apple, for the first time the company will store the keys for Chinese iCloud
accounts in China itself. That means Chinese authorities will no longer have to use the
U.S. courts to seek information on iCloud users and can instead use their own legal
system to ask Apple to hand over iCloud data for Chinese users.” READ MORE

Source: The
Guardian
Date: 16 Feb 2018
Facebook ordered to stop collecting user data by
Belgian court
“Facebook has been ordered by a Belgian court to stop collecting data on users or face
daily fines of €250,000 a day, or up to €100m. The court ruled on Friday that Facebook
had broken privacy laws by tracking people on third-party sites in the latest salvo in a
long-running battle with the Belgian privacy commission. “Facebook informs us
insufficiently about gathering information about us, the kind of data it collects, what it
does with that data and how long it stores it,” the court said. “It also does not gain our
consent to collect and store all this information.” Facebook has also been ordered to
delete all data it had gathered illegally on Belgian citizens, including people who were
not users of the social network. The social media firm uses different methods to track
the online behaviour of people if they….” READ MORE

Source: Council of Europe, Cybercrime