Trilogue negotiations for the EU Artificial Intelligence Act hit an unexpected roadblock last week after two EU member states said they wanted the proposed regulatory approach for foundation models retracted, which reportedly led European Parliament representatives to end the meeting early.
There are various digital policy points presently dominating EU data protection conversations. While shedding the full spotlight for the first time in years, the landscape for EU-U.S. data flows is trending positively thanks to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework adopted in July. Officials from both sides were on hand at the IAPP European Data Protection Congress to tout the DPF's progress, including the announcement of appointees to the U.S. Data Protection Review Court.
Following the news Ireland's first Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon will leave her post after 10 years effective February 2024, Goodwin Proctor Partner and IAPP Westin Emeritus Fellow Omer Tene writes her departure "marks the end of an era in technology regulation." When Dixon was named to lead Ireland's data protection authority, she became the world's first global privacy regulator, and Tene said she would go on to become a "paragon of judicious, balanced, disciplined and principled enforcement and regulation."
The European Data Protection Board provided an opinion on how Article 5 (3) of the ePrivacy Directive governs tracking techniques, but did not address exemptions or how consent to track should be obtained. The guidelines will be open to public comment for six weeks.Full story
The U.K. First-tier Tribunal decision overturning an Information Commissioner's Office sanction against Clearview AI was "inconsistent" with guidance pertaining to data controllers and processors for personal data processing activities under guidance issued by the European Data Protection Board and the ICO, Bird & Bird's Ruth Boardman, Emily Mason and James Moss write.
Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission fined two companies for allegedly failing to create sufficient personal data protections for consumers. Tokyo Century Leasing was fined SGD82,000 and Ascentis was fined SGD10,000. Additionally, the PDPC accepted a plan from Starbucks to remedy a data breach.Full story
Japan and U.S. state security and commerce officials met 14 Nov. to discuss economic security and stability, which included a focus on data privacy and artificial intelligence technology. They vowed to continue to enable cross-border data flow and strengthen supply chains around semiconductors critical to AI systems. Both countries also intend to develop a crosswalk around AI governance.Full story
China has released a draft proposal that recommends auditors take additional cybersecurity measures when dealing with national security issues, the South China Morning Post reports. The Ministry of Finance and Cyberspace Administrations of China drafted the joint proposal to strengthen cybersecurity standards within the finance industry.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties published a report evaluating personal data exposure with the use of real-time bidding. The report claims U.S. users have their data tracked by RTB systems an average of 747 times per day and RTB can track the data and information of government employees. Full story
The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted anti-child sexual abuse material measures. The rules would require internet service providers to evaluate if their services risk being used to circulate CSAM or solicit children. The proposal would require ISPs to then act to mitigate such risks, while leaving the specific measures up to them with support from the EU Centre for Child Protection.