Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On November 6, 2024, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office published a report following consensual audit engagements conducted between August 2023 and May 2024 with developers and providers of artificial intelligence powered sourcing, screening, and selection tools used in recruitment.

On September 12, 2024, the Irish Data Protection Commission announced it had launched a cross-border statutory inquiry into Google Ireland Limited in relation to Google’s data protection impact assessment obligations under the Irish Data Protection Act.

On August 16, 2024, a Ninth Circuit panel partially upheld an injunction halting implementation of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (the “Act”). In particular, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that NetChoice, a technology trade group, was likely to succeed in showing that the Act’s data protection impact assessment (“DPIA”) requirements violate the First Amendment. Under the DPIA requirements, covered businesses would have been required to identify material risks to children under the age of 18, document and mitigate those risks before such children access an online service, product or feature, and provide the DPIA to the California Attorney General upon written request.

On June 7, 2024, following a public consultation, the French Data Protection Authority published the final version of the guidelines addressing the development of AI systems from a data protection perspective.

On February 8, 2024, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP (“CIPL”) published a discussion paper on Comparison of U.S. State Privacy Laws: Data Protection Assessments. The paper analyzes the data protection assessment requirements set forth in an ever-growing number of comprehensive U.S. state privacy laws. The paper represents the first deliverable of CIPL’s ongoing project on U.S. state privacy laws, in which CIPL is collaborating with its member organizations to identify areas of alignment and divergence between state privacy laws. The paper also examines the compliance challenges organizations face as a result of the divergences, and provides recommendations to state law and policymakers who may be considering changes to existing laws or the introduction of new ones.

On January 22, 2024, a draft of the final text of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (“AI Act”) was leaked to the public. The leaked text substantially diverges from the original proposal by the European Commission, which dates back to 2021. The AI Act includes elements from both the European Parliament’s and the Council’s proposals.

On October 11, 2023, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) published a new set of guidelines addressing the research and development of AI systems from a data protection perspective (the “Guidelines”).

On March 15, 2023, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published an updated version of its guidance on AI and data protection (the “updated guidance”), following requests from UK industry to clarify requirements for fairness in AI. 

On September 10, 2021, the UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (“DCMS”) launched a consultation on its proposed reforms to the UK data protection regime. The consultation reflects DCMS’s effort to deliver on Mission 2 of the National Data Strategy, which is “to secure a pro-growth and trusted data regime in the UK.” Organizations are encouraged to provide input on a range of data protection proposals, some of which are outlined below. The consultation will close on November 19, 2021, and the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) will consult with members to prepare a formal response to the consultation.

On March 12, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published its Guidelines 01/2021 on Virtual Voice Assistants for consultation (the “Guidelines”). Virtual voice assistants (“VVAs”) understand and execute voice commands or coordinate with other IT systems. These tools are available on most smartphones and other devices and collect significant amounts of personal data, such as through user commands. In addition, VVAs require a terminal device equipped with a microphone and transfer data to remote service. These activities raise compliance issues under both the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the e-Privacy Directive.