Author: Jacob Leiken

News

In September 25, it was reported that a Chinese programmer had been administratively punished for more than 1 million RMB (approximately 145000 USD) due to his illegal use of VPN and illegal access to the global internet. It is by far the heaviest punishment on the illegal access to global internet issue in China, and the case is still appealable to he higher up administrative department and to the court.

The Federal Court of Canada decided in a right to be forgotten case that Canada’s Private Sectoral Data Protection Law applied to Google’s search results on individuals.

It was reported that there was a large-scale data breach in 23andMe user data, at least a million data points from user accounts were compromised. The majority of victims were of Chinese or Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Events

On Monday, Oct. 16, The Cardozo FAME Center and Cardozo Entertainment Law Society will be conducting an event called “The Future of Entertainment: AI Takes the Stage”, where a panel of entertainment lawyers and scholars will explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the entertainment industry. The event will be held on Zoom during 06:00 PM – 07:30 PM, and interested attendees can receive the link via email after registering for the event. https://cardozo.yu.edu/events/future-entertainment-ai-takes-stage.

R/T organized a virtual talk on Friday, October 13, from 11:30 to 12:30 pm with Harry Brignull. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhjiPVw8M5bOGR8tlzbjxKXfnu12brSu2LIzFsFXZsAbMv6Q/viewform?usp=sf_link.

(Compiled by Student Fellow Jerry Wu)

News

The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal has confirmed that Canadian citizens have the “right to be forgotten” online. In a 2017 case, a man complained that Google violated Canada’s privacy law by displaying outdated and sensitive information about him in search results. The court ruled that Canada’s privacy law applies to Google when indexing web pages and displaying search results linked to individuals’ names.

The Supreme Court has granted cert in cases related to social media censorship laws originating from Texas and Florida. These cases will examine whether such laws raise First Amendment concerns.

In the context of the antitrust proceedings against Google, the CEO of Microsoft provided testimony in Washington, D.C., underscoring the competitive challenges his company encounters due to Google’s significant market dominance.

In connection with the Google antitrust proceedings, it was revealed during a testimony that Google modifies the search terms entered by users to generate results that are more commercially oriented.

Meta Platforms is considering introducing ad-free subscription plans for European users, with a 10 euro per month option being the most likely. This move is driven by the need to adhere to European Union regulations that restrict personalized ads without user consent, which could impact Meta’s primary revenue source. Additionally, for mobile users, the cost may increase to approximately 13 euros due to commissions from Apple’s and Google’s app stores.

China appears to be undergoing a significant shift in its approach to data flow regulation, moving away from the previous practice of conducting security assessments on a case-by-case basis. As a result of this change, numerous businesses will no longer be subject to stringent data transfer restrictions.

Recently the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, the PCLOB, released a report on Section 702 of FISA regarding suggested reforms as Congress considers reauthorizing it. The report proposes several key measures, including the necessity for the government to obtain individualized judicial authorization prior to conducting searches on private communications. It also suggests the establishment of clearly defined surveillance objectives deemed lawful, prohibiting the NSA from reinstating data collection without Congressional approval, and implementing an array of privacy oversight and transparency initiatives for assessment reports.

Events

On Weds., Oct. 11, Professor Angela Zhang will present “The Paradox of Chinese AI Regulation: Too Little and Too Much?”, a talk about China’s AI governance regulations and strategies. Professor Benedict Kingsbury will moderate. The event will take place from 5:00 to 6:30pm EST at NYU’s Vanderbilt Hall in Room 216, with a Zoom link available for remote attendees. Professor Zhang’s second book, “High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy,” is set to be released in Spring 2024.

ILI is hosting on children’s online privacy and the new regulation that’s happening in that area.

(Compiled by Student Fellow Inbar Cohen)

News

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general launched a lawsuit against Amazon alleging the company exercises illegal monopoly power through anti-competitive strategies like anti-discounting measures and biasing search results toward Amazon’s own products. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction that would bar Amazon from engaging in the practices the suit identifies as unlawful.

The NYPD is piloting a program for robots to provide New York subway patrol services over the next two months. The robots will be accompanies by human police officers during the pilot period.

Regulators in the United Kingdom recently confirmed it will proceed with a “U.K.-U.S. data bridge” that will ensure any data regarding U.K. citizens shared with U.S. data processors will be covered by the U.K.’s data protection regime.

Poland’s Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) is investigating OpenAI over concerns ChatGPT violates the GDPR’s personal data processing provisions.

A ChatGPT mobile upgrade allows users to speak queries to a chatbot that will respond with its own synthesized voice, and to upload photographs for which the app can provide descriptions in response.

Indonesia has banned e-commerce transactions on social media platforms in an effort Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan indicated was an attempt to generate more “fair and just” business competition. The ban is predicted to impede TikTok’s efforts to grow in Southeast Asia.

A former engineer at Apple recently identified a security flaw with the company’s “Find My” feature, as contacts blocked by an Apple user could share their location with the user as a means of harassment and even reactivating their ability to message the user. Apple fixed the flaw and thanked the engineer.

Microsoft is exploring the use of nuclear reactors as a means of powering its data centers.

Tinder is offering a $499/month invite-only subscription program, “Tinder Select,” through which subscribers can directly message other users, including ones with whom they are not already matched.

Events

On Weds., Oct. 11, Professor Angela Zhang will present “The Paradox of Chinese AI Regulation: Too Little and Too Much?”, a talk about China’s AI governance regulations and strategies. Professor Benedict Kingsbury will moderate. The event will take place from 5:00 to 6:30pm EST at NYU’s Vanderbilt Hall in Room 216, with a Zoom link available for remote attendees. Professor Zhang’s second book, “High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy,” is set to be released in Spring 2024.

The Third Annual Cybersecurity Law and Policy Scholars Conference is taking place this weekend at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University.

NYU hosted a symposium titled Critical Stances Toward AI: For a Critical and Self-Determined Approach to Digital Technology this past week. The Weizenbaum Institute sponsored the symposium in honor of its late namesake, Joseph Weizenbaum.

(Compiled by Student Fellow Cooper Aspegren)

News

On September 19, UK passed the Online Safety Bill  which sets new and tougher duties on social media platforms seeking, among other things, children’s protection and safety.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction and blocked enforcement of California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act on First Amendment grounds.

Amazon announced the launch of “Eye Gaze”, a new Alexa feature to support users with mobility or speech disabilities. 

Privacy class action claim against Open AI was dropped.

Fiction authors filed a class action lawsuit in SDNY against Open AI for IP infringement in training their models. (SDNY Docket No. 1:23-cv-8292)

The Irish Data Protection Commission fined TikTok for violations to the GDPR, in particular to provisions protecting minors.

Events

The Information Law Institute (ILI) is co-sponsoring an in-person event on October 26 which will focus on children’s privacy. 

(Compiled by Student Fellow Valentina Salas)