The resources described below will help you identify and/or retrieve national laws pertaining to data security and online privacy.
- Bloomberg Law: Privacy & Data Security Practice Center
- Privacy & Data Security Subject Portfolios
Each portfolio provides practical guidance and insights on a particular aspect of privacy and data security law. Click on the triangle-shaped icon to open and expand the table of contents for each portfolio. Note that some portfolios cover only U.S. law, while others also cover the law of selected foreign jurisdictions. Citations to relevant statutes and regulations are included. Links to full texts of laws are also provided for some jurisdictions.
- International Privacy Portfolios
Each jurisdiction-specific profile includes:
- Summaries of privacy and data security laws and regulations, along with citations. Links to the full texts of primary legal materials are usually provided, sometimes in the language of the jurisdiction and sometimes in English translation.
- Profiles of national regulatory authorities.
- A overview of the enforcement environment and risk factors.
- A discussion of emerging issues and the outlook for future developments.
- Bloomberg Law Privacy & Data Protection Chart Builders
The chart builders allow you to quickly compare the legal and regulatory regimes governing data security and workplace privacy across multiple jurisdictions.
- International Data Protection Chart Builder
Select two or more jurisdictions from the menu on the left and one or more topics from the menu on the right. Select either jurisdictions or topics as the column header. Tables may be exported to Excel.
- Global Workplace Privacy Requirements Chart Builder
Select two or more jurisdictions from the menu on the left and one or more topics from the menu on the right. Select either jurisdictions or topics as the column header. Tables may be exported to Excel.
- GDPR Derogations Chart Builder
Use this tool to determine if an E.U. member state has enacted legislation that diverges from the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation by providing enhanced levels of protection beyond the minimum standards set forth in the GDPR. Select one or more E.U. member states from the menu on the left and one or more topics from the menu on the right. Select either jurisdictions or topics as the column header. Tables may be exported to Excel.
- VitalLaw: Cybersecurity & Privacy
Although focused primarily on U.S data privacy law, also has good coverage of data privacy law in selected foreign jurisdictions including the E.U. and its member states.
- Global Treatises & Practice Guides
On the Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Center homepage, use the Content menu on the left to select the “Global Treatises & Practice Guides” category. Includes the following:
- E.U. GDPR Resources
In the center of the Cybersecurity & Privacy Practice Center homepage, use the Spotlight Topics menu to select “EU/GDPR & Global Privacy Law” to access relevant E.U. regulations and directives (arranged chronologically by year of enactment), opinions issued by the European Data Protection Board, a directory of European data protection authorities, and practitioner commentary and insights on the GDPR, and other material.
- Global Privacy & Data Security Law Smart Chart Builders
Under the Practice Tools heading on the right side of the Cybersecurity & Privacy Practice Center homepage, the GDPR Derogation Jurisdictional Compare Smart Chart and Global Privacy & Security Jurisdictional Compare Smart Chart (84 jurisdictions) provide international coverage (the other Smart Chart Builders listed focus exclusively on U.S. domestic law.).
- Council of Europe: National Data Protection Laws
This free resource covers the 47 countries that are members of the Council of Europe as well as 18 non-European countries. Includes links to the full text of each country’s national data protection law, usually in English translation rather than the original language. Also includes citations to constitutional provisions that protect the right to privacy, as well as links to the jurisdiction's national data protection authority.
- Foreign Law Guide
Use this subscription database to identify primary law sources for jurisdictions outside the U.S. On the homepage, scroll down and click on the tab labeled Laws by Subject, select Cybercrime, Data Protection, Information & Internet from the alphabetical list of subjects, select the desired jurisdiction, and then scroll down to see laws related to data protection. In some cases, you will find a direct link to an electronic version of a law; in others, only a citation to a print source is provided. Ask a librarian for assistance in locating print sources.
- Getting the Deal Through (GTDT)
This multi-jurisdictional resource offers in-depth, practitioner-written summaries of national laws that govern cybersecurity, as well as data protection and privacy, using a question-and-answer format. Begin by using the Work Areas menu to select either Tech→Cybersecurity or Compliance→Data Protection & Privacy, then select a jurisdiction to generate a country-specific report or select two or more jurisdictions to generate a comparative report. Jurisdictional coverage varies by work area.
- Global-Regulation
This user-friendly subscription database allows you to search by keyword in English for national laws and regulations from 110 jurisdictions worldwide. After running a search, use the country filters on the left to narrow by jurisdiction or click on the Advanced Mode link, displayed above the search results, to enter additional search terms linked by Boolean operators. For non-English-speaking jurisdictions, machine-generated English translations are provided, along with a link to the law or regulation in its original language.
- International Encyclopaedia of Laws: Cyber Law Online
This resource offers detailed, book-length summaries of national laws pertaining to information technology in 38 jurisdictions worldwide. Each jurisdiction-specific treatise follows a standard outline, making it easy to compare laws across jurisdictions. Topics covered in each outline include privacy (Part VI) and non-contractual liability of network operators and service providers (Part V), among others. Citations to primary laws are included. All content is available to download as PDFs.
