EU

In this edition of our regular roundup on legislative initiatives related to artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, the Internet of Things (IoT), and connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), we focus on key developments in the European Union (EU).
Continue Reading AI, IoT, and CAV Legislative Update: EU Spotlight (Third Quarter 2020)

On 28 June 2019, the German Bundestag passed the 2nd DSAnpUG which will amongst other things further adapt the German Federal Data Protection Act („BDSG“), the German Federal Registration Act (“BMG”), the German Act on the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (“BSI-Act”) and the Act on the Establishment of a Federal Institute for…

On April 8, 2019, the EU High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (the “AI HLEG”) published its “Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI” (the “guidance”).  This follows a stakeholder consultation on its draft guidelines published in December 2018 (the “draft guidance”) (see our previous blog post for more information on the draft guidance).  The guidance retains many of the same core elements of the draft guidance, but provides a more streamlined conceptual framework and elaborates further on some of the more nuanced aspects, such as on interaction with existing legislation and reconciling the tension between competing ethical requirements.

According to the European Commission’s Communication accompanying the guidance, the Commission will launch a piloting phase starting in June 2019 to collect more detailed feedback from stakeholders on how the guidance can be implemented, with a focus in particular on the assessment list set out in Chapter III.  The Commission plans to evaluate the workability and feasibility of the guidance by the end of 2019, and the AI HLEG will review and update the guidance in early 2020 based on the evaluation of feedback received during the piloting phase.
Continue Reading EU High-Level Working Group Publishes Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI

Following a political agreement at the end of 2018, earlier this week the European Parliament approved a new cybersecurity regulation known as the EU “Cybersecurity Act” This forms part of the EU’s Cyber Package, first announced in September 2017 (which we blogged about here).

In addition to reinforcing the mandate of ENISA — now to be known as the EU Agency for Cybersecurity — the new regulation establishes an EU cybersecurity certification framework. This framework is intended to increase the transparency of the cybersecurity assurance of ICT products, services and processes, and thereby improve trust and help end users make informed choices.  Another key reason for the framework is to avoid the multiplication of conflicting or overlapping national certifications and thus reduce costs.

Under the regulation, the Commission is empowered to adopt European cybersecurity certification schemes, prepared by ENISA, concerning specific groups of ICT products, services and processes.  The schemes could cover, for example, ICT products, services and processes that are used in cars, airplanes, power plants, medical devices, as well as Internet-connected consumer devices.

Among many other details, each certification scheme will set out the subject matter and scope of the scheme, including the type or categories of ICT products, services and processes covered; a clear description of the purpose of the scheme; references to the international, European or national standards applied in the evaluation or other technical specifications; information on assurance levels (explained in more detail below); and an indication of whether conformity self-assessment is permitted under the scheme (also explained in more detail below).
Continue Reading European Parliament Approves EU Cybersecurity Act