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A new year means new state privacy bills introduced in states across the country.  With two additional states joining California last year with the passage of the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act and the Colorado Privacy Act, it is likely that more states will join the fray this year in creating a patchwork of comprehensive privacy laws in the United States.

While some states will have these bills under consideration well into the fall, the vast majority of state legislatures will adjourn by early June and thirteen will adjourn before the start of April.

During this early year sprint, there are five general trends that observers will want to keep an eye on in state legislatures.…
Continue Reading State Legislative Trends to Watch in 2022

In a decision handed down on December 1, 2021, the Brussels Market Court (Court of Appeal) had an opportunity to consider the GDPR right of access.  The Belgian Ministry of Finance appealed the Belgian Supervisory Authority’s recent decision requiring the Ministry to grant a complainant access to her financial file and make corrections to the…

On 12 January 2022, the French National Assembly’s Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education (the “Committee”) unanimously approved a draft bill seeking to “encourage the use of parental controls on certain equipment and services sold in France and allowing access to the Internet” (the “Bill”).

  1. Background

In 2021, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”)…

Date Tag News Link to Source
December 16 Artificial Intelligence The European Parliament Research Service published a study on biometrics and AI, with recommendations for the draft Artificial Intelligence Act. Link.
December 15 Cybersecurity The UK Government published its 2022 National Cyber Strategy.  The strategy is built around five core pillars:
  • strengthening the

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As 2021 comes to a close, we will be sharing the key legislative and regulatory updates for artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and privacy this month.  Lawmakers introduced a range of proposals to regulate AI, IoT, CAVs, and privacy as well as appropriate funds to study developments in these emerging spaces.  In addition, from developing a consumer labeling program for IoT devices to requiring the manufacturers and operators of CAVs to report crashes, federal agencies have promulgated new rules and issued guidance to promote consumer awareness and safety.  We are providing this year-end round up in four parts.  In this post, we detail IoT updates in Congress, the states, and federal agencies.

Part IV: Internet of Things

This quarter’s IoT-related Congressional and regulatory updates ranged from promoting consumer awareness to bolstering the security of connected devices.  In particular, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has taken a number of actions to promote the growth of IoT while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) continues to work to fulfill its obligations under President Biden’s May Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity (“EO”).  The IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 (H.R.1668) additionally tasked NIST with developing security standards and guidelines for the federal government’s IoT devices.  This year NIST put out a number of reports to carry out this mandate, including guidance documents to assist federal agencies with evaluating the security capabilities required in their IoT devices (NIST SP 800-213).…
Continue Reading U.S. AI and IoT Legislative Update – Year-End 2021

On Episode 17 of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast, Dan Cooper, Sam Choi, Danielle Kehl and Nick Shepherd discuss the developments related to children’s privacy, looking at relevant legislation, standards, and guidelines in the UK, the EU, and the U.S., and zooming in on some child-specific topics such as age thresholds and age verification,…

 As 2021 comes to a close, we will be sharing the key legislative and regulatory updates for artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and privacy this month.  Lawmakers introduced a range of proposals to regulate AI, IoT, CAVs, and privacy as well as appropriate funds to study developments in these emerging spaces.  In addition, from developing a consumer labeling program for IoT devices to requiring the manufacturers and operators of CAVs to report crashes, federal agencies have promulgated new rules and issued guidance to promote consumer awareness and safety.  We are providing this year-end round up in four parts.  In this post, we detail CAV updates in Congress and federal agencies.
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Continue Reading U.S. AI and IoT Legislative Update – Year-End 2021

As 2021 comes to a close, we will be sharing the key legislative and regulatory updates for artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and privacy this month.  Lawmakers introduced a range of proposals to regulate AI, IoT, CAVs, and privacy as well as appropriate funds to study developments in these emerging spaces.  In addition, from developing a consumer labeling program for IoT devices to requiring the manufacturers and operators of CAVs to report crashes, federal agencies have promulgated new rules and issued guidance to promote consumer awareness and safety.  We are providing this year-end round up in four parts.  In this post, we detail data privacy updates in Congress and federal agencies.…
Continue Reading U.S. AI and IoT Legislative Update – Year-End 2021

As 2021 comes to a close, we will be sharing the key legislative and regulatory updates for artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and privacy this month.  Lawmakers introduced a range of proposals to regulate AI, IoT, CAVs, and privacy as well as appropriate funds to study developments in these emerging spaces.  In addition, from developing a consumer labeling program for IoT devices to requiring the manufacturers and operators of CAVs to report crashes, federal agencies have promulgated new rules and issued guidance to promote consumer awareness and safety.  We are providing this year-end round up in four parts.  In this post, we detail AI updates in Congress, state legislatures, and federal agencies.…
Continue Reading U.S. AI and IoT Legislative Update – Year-End 2021

There has been a substantial increase in the use of the Internet across the African continent, aided by ongoing investment into local digital infrastructure, reduction in the associated costs, and improved user access. This has allowed both individuals, and private and public entities, the ability to access, collect, process and/or disseminate personal data more easily, which has spurred a number of African countries to enact comprehensive data protection laws and establish data protection authorities. There is also a growing perception among African countries that there is a need to protect their citizen’s personal data, to regulate how public and private entities use personal data, and to establish data protection authorities tasked with enforcing these laws.

While countries like Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa now have comprehensive data protection laws, which share some elements found in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), many of the proposed data protection laws have specific rules that are different from those in other countries in Africa. Consequently, technology companies conducting business in Africa will be required to keep abreast of the evolving regulatory landscape as it relates to data protection on the continent.

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Continue Reading Tech Regulation in Africa: Recently Enacted Data Protection Laws