Data Laws and Regulations Enacted in 2025
ICLG, a renowned publisher, has released its latest guide - the Data Protection Laws and Regulations 2025. This comprehensive resource provides an in-depth overview of data protection frameworks across 27 jurisdictions, offering valuable insights for legal practitioners and businesses navigating the complex world of data protection laws.
The guide is available online free of charge at https://iclg.com/practice-areas/data-protection-laws-and-regulations.
Key Data Protection Principles
While the specific principles may vary slightly by jurisdiction, the guide highlights common foundational principles that are typically covered. These include:
- Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency in processing personal data
- Purpose limitation (collecting data only for specified, legitimate purposes)
- Data minimization (collecting only data necessary for the purpose)
- Accuracy (keeping data up to date)
- Storage limitation (not keeping data longer than necessary)
- Integrity and confidentiality (security of personal data)
- Accountability (organizations must demonstrate compliance)
Legislation
Each of the 27 jurisdictions is governed by its own core data protection legislation, often modeled on or influenced by global frameworks such as the EU’s GDPR. Examples include:
- Australia: Privacy Act 1988 and amended provisions related to data privacy
- United Kingdom: UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018
- United States: A sectoral and state-level patchwork of laws, with no single comprehensive federal statute but notable laws like the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and HIPAA for health data
Competent Authorities
Every jurisdiction possesses designated authorities responsible for enforcing data protection laws. These authorities oversee compliance, handle complaints, and impose sanctions. For instance:
- Australia: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
- UK: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
- USA: Multiple authorities depending on the sector or state; for example, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on consumer protection aspects and state data protection agencies
Scope of the Guide
The ICLG guide details these elements - legislation, competent authorities, territorial scope, individual rights, requirements such as registration formalities, and the appointment of data protection officers (DPOs) - for each covered jurisdiction. It serves as an authoritative, up-to-date resource for legal practitioners and businesses navigating the evolving data protection landscape.
The guide includes chapters on relevant legislation, competent authorities, territorial scope, key principles, individual rights, registration formalities, appointment of a data protection officer, and processors for each of the 27 jurisdictions.
Contributing Experts
The guide was authored by a team of experienced legal professionals, each specializing in their respective areas:
- Tim Hickman, Aishwarya Jha, and F. Paul Pittman: Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, United Kingdom
- Clara Hainsdorf and Bertrand Liard: Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, France
- Paul Pittman, Abdul Hafiz, and Andrew Hamm: Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, United States
- Dr. Detlev Gabel: Technology Transactions, Intellectual Property, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Technology, Sports, Fintech, Germany
- Bertrand Liard: Intellectual Property, Technology Transactions, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Technology, Media, Fintech
- Clara Hainsdorf: Intellectual Property, Technology Transactions, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Litigation
- Andrew Hamm: Antitrust/Competition
- Tim Hickman: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Technology Transactions, Fintech, Technology, Privacy Advisory and Compliance
- Abdul M. Hafiz: Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Litigation, Life Sciences and Healthcare
- Tim Hickman and Detlev Gabel served as contributing editors and authored the "The Rapid Evolution of Data Protection Laws" chapter.
For a detailed breakdown per jurisdiction, access the guide online through ICLG’s website.
In summary, the ICLG Data Protection Laws and Regulations 2025 guide systematically outlines the key data protection principles shared by most jurisdictions, specific local data protection laws, and the corresponding regulatory authorities across 27 jurisdictions, offering a crucial resource for global data compliance insight.
- The comprehensive ICLG guide, Data Protection Laws and Regulations 2025, provides valuable insights for legal practitioners and businesses navigating the complex world of data protection laws.
- This guide is available free of charge online at https://iclg.com/practice-areas/data-protection-laws-and-regulations.
- The guide offers an in-depth overview of data protection frameworks across 27 jurisdictions, highlighting common foundational principles.
- Key common principles include lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, and accountability.
- Each jurisdiction is governed by its own core data protection legislation, often modeled on or influenced by global frameworks.
- For instance, Australia's core data protection legislation includes the Privacy Act 1988 and amended provisions related to data privacy.
- In the UK, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 serve as primary legislation.
- In the United States, there is a sectoral and state-level patchwork of laws, with notable laws like the CCPA and HIPAA for health data.
- Every jurisdiction possesses designated authorities responsible for enforcing data protection laws, such as the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in Australia and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK.
- The guide details the legislation, competent authorities, territorial scope, individual rights, registration formalities, and appointment of data protection officers (DPOs) for each covered jurisdiction.
- The guide serves as an authoritative, up-to-date resource for legal practitioners and businesses navigating the evolving data protection landscape.
- The guide was authored by a team of experienced legal professionals, including Bertrand Liard, who specializes in Intellectual Property, Technology Transactions, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Technology, Media, Fintech, and Clara Hainsdorf, who specializes in Intellectual Property, Technology Transactions, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Litigation.
