Month: March 2022

Last week, the United States and the European Commission committed to a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, which will foster trans-Atlantic data flows and address concerns raised in 2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union when it struck down the Commission’s adequacy decision underlying the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework.

Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on new EU rules to limit the market power of big online platforms. The Digital Market Act will ban certain practices used by large platforms acting as “gatekeepers” and enable the Commission to carry out market investigations to sanction non-compliant behavior.

On March 24, 2022, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act was signed into law by the Utah Governor. This bill will take effect on December 31, 2023.

The Center for Social Media and Politics will hold a half-day symposium on “The Future of Social Media: Covering, Researching, and Regulating Platforms” on April 13, 2022. 

The District Court for the Western District of Texas Austin found the state’s prohibition of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAV”) by journalists to be unconstitutional. 

Apple released its new privacy feature “Private Relay” and “Hide my Email” bringing new privacy protections months after releasing App Tracking Transparency. These features are only available to users who have an iCloud storage subscription.

(Compiled by Student Fellow Raisa Adila Andomi)

The Cyber Law and Policy Scholars Conference (CLPSC) published its Call for Papers. Submissions are due by May 1, 2022.

Last Friday, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc that accused the company of antitrust violations.  The Washington, D.C. attorney general filed the complaint last year, alleging that Amazon barred third-party sellers from offering better deals for their products elsewhere.

U.S. startup Clearview AI provided Ukraine’s defense ministry access to its facial recognition technology to use in the conflict with Russia.

The University of Florida is hosting The 2022 Technology, Media, & Privacy Law on Friday, March 25.

A federal class-action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York accused the NYPD of unconstitutionally collecting possible suspect DNA from cigarette butts, empty cans, or bottles left in interrogation rooms.

The Justice Department (anti-trust) is requesting the District Court for the District of Columbia to sanction Google for explicitly and repeatedly instructing its employees to shield important business communications from discovery by using false requests for legal advice, thus misusing attorney-client privilege.

Last week, the California Attorney General’s Office released an opinion clarifying that a consumer’s right to know under the California Consumer Privacy Act covers business-generated inferences unless there’s a proven statutory exemption.

A panel (April 4th, 2022, online) organized by S.T.O.P. will explore the NYC Mayors’ proposed expansion of municipal data collection and digitization of city services and the danger this plan poses to undocumented New Yorkers.

(Compiled by Student Fellow Uria Beeri)

President Biden signed an executive order calling for a comprehensive review of the federal government’s stance toward cryptocurrencies, including an assessment of the risks to consumers, the financial system, and the climate. Agencies and regulators will prepare reports on digital assets, and the government will explore the creation of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency.

The Utah legislature approved comprehensive privacy legislation, which would make Utah the fourth US state, and the first controlled by two Republican chambers, to do so, if the bill is signed by Governor Spencer Cox. The state privacy law lacks some measures preferred by privacy groups, such as a private right of action for violations.

Twitter became the latest tech company to launch a Tor onion service, which may allow users in Russia and around the world to bypass government censorship of the social network and news service. Twitter’s announcement may also further mainstream Tor’s network around the world.

A new report details profits made by prison telecommunication companies who distribute tablets to incarcerated populations and charge prisoners on a per-use basis for email “stamps,” video calls, and entertainment offerings. Use of tablets in prisons greatly expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic as other recreation and education programs were curtailed.

Amazon became the latest company to restrict services in Russia. In a blog post, the Seattle-based company announced suspension of all retail shipments and Prime Video streams to Russian customers, and noted they would stop accepting new AWS customers and third party sellers based in Russia or Belarus.

(Compiled by Student Fellow Corey Berman)

Google has temporarily disabled Google Maps features in Ukraine that provide live information about how busy roads and places are following the recent invasion of Russian forces.

A Virginia court refused to issue a geofence warrant, finding the warrant would be unconstitutional, as applied. The court held that the search warrant application, sought in relation to a shooting investigation, lacked sufficient probable cause and particularity to satisfy the demands of the Fourth Amendment.

The Irish data protection commissioner is seeking to suspend Meta data transfers from the European Union to the United States. This move comes after the existing transatlantic transfer pact was blocked by the European Union Court of Justice due to inadequate security protections of personal data once transferred to the United States.

In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden called on Congress to strengthen online privacy protections for children, criticizing social media’s targeted advertising of children and widespread collection and use of children’s personal data.

The U.S. Senate has passed a major cybersecurity bill, the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act. The bill, which has yet to be reviewed and passed by the House, would require critical infrastructure companies to report ransomware payments, cyberattacks, and data breaches.

Keller Lenkner, a Chicago-based law firm, is bankrolling customers bringing tens of thousands of arbitration claims against TurboTax-maker Intuit. The strategy is, in part, a response to a recent unsuccessful class action against Intuit, which had steered customers away from the Free File product developed in partnership with the IRS and toward a “Free Edition” of TurboTax that charged some users fees. 

(Compiled by Student Fellow Lorna Mosher)