Data Privacy

On 29 March 2023, the UK Government published a White Paper entitled “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation” (“White Paper”). The White Paper elaborates on the approach to AI set out by the Government in its 2022 AI Governance and Regulation Policy Statement (“Policy Statement” – covered in our blog post here). This announcement comes following the Government’s commitments, in the Spring Budget 2023, to build an expert taskforce to develop the UK’s capabilities in AI foundation models and produce guidance on the relationship between intellectual property law and generative AI (for more details of these initiatives, see here).

In its White Paper, the UK Government confirms that, unlike the EU, it does not plan to adopt new legislation to regulate AI, nor will it create a new regulator for AI (for further details on the EU’s proposed AI regulation see our blog posts here and here). Instead, the UK would require existing regulators, including the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), to take responsibility for the establishment, promotion, and oversight of responsible AI in their respective sectors. Regulators’ activities would be reinforced by the establishment of new support and oversight functions within central Government. This approach is already beginning to play out in certain regulated areas in the UK. For example, in October 2022, the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) jointly released a Discussion Paper on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning considering how AI in financial services should be regulated and, in March 2023, the ICO updated its Guidance on AI and Data Protection.  …

Continue Reading UK Government Adopts a “Pro-Innovation” Approach to AI Regulation

On March 26, 2023, Virginia enacted a genetic privacy law (SB 1087) aimed at regulating the practices of direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) genetic testing companies.  Virginia is not the only state interested in regulating these companies—numerous other states, including Minnesota, Texas, Tennessee, and Vermont, have introduced similar bills during this legislative session, following the enactment of similar genetic privacy laws in Arizona, California, and Utah in recent years.  Virginia’s SB 1087, effective July 1, 2023, adds to the growing net of state genetic privacy protections.…

Continue Reading Virginia Enacts Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Privacy Law as Numerous Other States Introduce Similar Bills

On Episode 19 of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast, Dan Cooper and and Yan Luo discuss the key provisions of China’s draft SCCs, compare the draft legislation with the GDPR, and talk through actions that companies should be considering in order to comply with the new cross-border data requirements.

This audiocast episode is repurposed from a…

The UK Government recently published its long-awaited response to its data reform consultation, ‘Data: A new direction’ (see our post on the consultation, here).

As many readers are aware, following Brexit, the UK Government has to walk a fine line between trying to reduce the compliance burden on organizations and retaining the ‘adequacy’ status that the European Commission granted in 2021 (see our post on the decision, here).

While we’ll have to wait to review the detail of the final legislation, we outline below some of the more eye-catching proposals for reform.…

Continue Reading 8 Eye-catching Reforms in the UK Government’s Response to its Public Consultation on Data Protection Law

After years of negotiations, members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have released bipartisan comprehensive privacy legislation—the American Data Privacy and Protection Act.  Democrats and Republicans have put forward separate proposals in the past that have more in common than different.  The two main points of disagreement that have historically stalled a comprehensive…

As many readers will be aware, a key enforcement trend in the privacy sphere is the increasing scrutiny by regulators and activists of cookie banners and the use of cookies. This is a topic that we have been tracking on the Inside Privacy blog for some time. Italian and German data protection authorities have…

This quarterly update summarizes key federal legislative and regulatory developments in the first quarter of 2022 related to artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy, and highlights a few particularly notable developments in the States.  In the first quarter of 2022, Congress and the Administration focused on required assessments and funding for AI, restrictions on targeted advertising using personal data collected from individuals and connected devices, creating rules to enhance CAV safety, and children’s privacy topics.
Continue Reading U.S. AI, IoT, CAV, and Privacy Legislative Update – First Quarter 2022

On Episode 18 of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast, Dan Cooper, Moritz Hüsch, Kristof van Quathem, and Petros Vinis discuss GDPR enforcement, and the evolution of regulatory fines since the GDPR was enacted in 2018.


Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast offers insights into topical global privacy issues and trends. Subscribe to our Inside…

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

 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