A number of regulators throughout the Caribbean have taken steps in respect of Net Neutrality. Between 2010 and the present, this has included decisions, position papers and public consultations. Many regional governments support the notion but this position is not universal.
Data Protection: BVI has entered the chat!
The House of Assembly passed a set of digital society legislation, including a data privacy law, last month.
Barbados’ advanced privacy law now enforceable
March 31, 2021. A proclamation issued a few days earlier has fixed that date to mark the Barbados Data Protection Act, 2019-29 coming into effect. Put another way: March 31 is when the privacy compliance landscape in Barbados will change immutably.
Bermuda recognises comprehensive certification mechanism for data transfers
Bermuda’s Privacy Commissioner recently announced recognition for the APEC CBPR System as a certification mechanism for overseas transfers of personal data under Bermuda’s data privacy law. The move promises strong safeguards for transfers of data outside of Bermuda.
Status of Data Privacy Laws in the Caribbean [Feb 2021]
With the recent activities around operationalising data privacy laws in Barbados and Jamaica, I thought it would be a good time to provide an update on the status of privacy laws in the Commonwealth Caribbean*, generally. I have also included, where applicable, recent privacy-related developments in the relevant jurisdictions. TL;DR – Six jurisdictions are without…
Barbados and Jamaica closer to operationalising new privacy laws
Both Barbados and Jamaica passed substantive data protection laws in the past 18 months. Neither jurisdiction has, however, taken the relevant procedural steps to actually make their privacy laws enforceable.
Guyana set to pass impressive new law on e-commerce
Guyana is about to strip itself of a, no doubt, undesirable status: it is one of only two remaining Caribbean jurisdictions without a substantive e-commerce law. The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce published a draft act – The Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill, 2019 in early October, 2020. The public comment period for the…
[Intellectual Property] Significant damages award for software programmer in Jamaican copyright claim – plain English article
In Paymaster (Jamaica) Ltd. v Grace Kennedy Remittance Services Ltd, the Jamaican Supreme Court has awarded significant damages, equivalent to approximately US$4+ million, to a software programmer following a copyright dispute. The bulk of the award? Interest!
BVI tables cyber laws
The Government of the British Virgin Islands has tabled a number of bills in its parliament aimed at enhancing the digital economy. The suite of proposed legislation covers data privacy, the facilitation of electronic filings via government institutions, electronic commerce (electronic transactions, documents and signatures) and digital payments.
List of E-Commerce Laws in the Caribbean
I researched which countries in the Caribbean region have e-commerce laws and the results are listed below