Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On March 28, 2023, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL” or “French DPA”) announced a €125,000 fine on the e-scooter rental company Cityscoot for breaching EU and French data protection rules, in particular in the context of geolocation and use of Google reCAPTCHA. The fine was imposed on March 16, 2023.

On Monday, March 27, 2023, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL) at Hunton Andrews Kurth submitted a response to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)’s Invitation for Preliminary Comments on Proposed Rulemaking for cybersecurity audits, risk assessments and automated decisionmaking.

On March 29, 2023, the UK government published a white paper on artificial intelligence (“AI”) entitled “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation.” The white paper sets out a new “flexible” approach to regulating artificial intelligence which is intended to build public trust in AI and make it easier for businesses to grow and create jobs. 

On March 27, 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that a New York-based law firm (Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach LLP) had agreed to pay $200,000 in penalties and enhance its cybersecurity practices to settle charges stemming from a 2021 data breach. 

The Brazilian law firm BMA Advogados reports that the Brazilian National Data Protection Authority (“ANPD”) adopted a landmark and long-awaited regulation for the enforcement of the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (“LGPD”).

On March 15, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed three rules related to cybersecurity and the protection of consumer information.

On February 16, 2023, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP held a virtual roundtable to discuss the role of age assurance and age verification tools as part of its Children’s Data Privacy Project. Representatives from CIPL member companies, data protection authorities, civil society and experts exchanged views on the effectiveness of different methodologies and emerging best practices to shield minors from harmful or inappropriate content.

On March 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released an update to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance (“ECCP Guidance”). The ECCP Guidance serves as a guidance document for prosecutors when evaluating a corporate compliance program. Among other updates, the ECCP Guidance now includes new guidance for assessing how companies govern employees’ use of personal devices, communication platforms and messaging applications.

On March 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced it issued orders to eight social media and video streaming platforms seeking Special Reports on how the platforms review and monitor commercial advertising to detect, prevent and reduce deceptive advertisements, including those related to fraudulent healthcare products, financial scams and the sale of fake goods. The FTC sent the orders pursuant to its resolution directing the FTC to use all available compulsory process to inquire into this topic, and using the FTC’s Section 6(b) authority, which authorizes the FTC to conduct studies that do not have a specific law enforcement purpose.

On March 15, 2023, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office finalized rules implementing the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”). The finalized rules were released with an official redline that reflects prior revisions of the rules dated December 21, 2022, January 27, 2023, and February 23, 2023. The rules will be published in the Colorado Register later this month and will go into effect on July 1, 2023, when the CPA takes effect.