In a recent high-profile case, Jeffrey Piccolo filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney after his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, tragically passed away from a severe allergic reaction after having dinner at Great Irish Pub Florida, a restaurant located in Disney Springs, Florida and under control of Disney. In its initial defense, Disney hinged on the terms of service Piccolo had agreed to when signing up for Disney+ in 2019. The company argued that these terms required any disputes involving Disney and any of its affiliates must be resolved through individual arbitration rather than in court, and thus the court should dismiss the lawsuit.
The court of Orange County, Florida has not yet made its decision, but the initial defense of Disney not only raised questions about how personal data has been processed and used by big corporations but also the consequences of blindly agree to the terms of services. Disney’s use of Piccolo’s agreement to the terms of service for Disney+ to defend against a wrongful death claim illustrates the potential legal and ethical issues as well as an example for inappropriate processing of personal data.
In light of similar issues, Vietnamese government is expecting to circulate a Decree on administrative penalties for violations in the field of personal data protection. The expected Decree shall mandate that personal data of Vietnamese must be collected and used transparently, and once again emphasize the principles of processing personal data of Vietnamese in a manner that is consistent with the scope and purpose agreed upon by the data owner. A fine ranging from 10 to 20 million VND as well as other remedies and indemnifications may be imposed on any companies that force Vietnamese data owners to give consent for their personal data to be used for services that are not included in the scope and purpose of processing previously declared or registered by that company.
