Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On December 6, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which is set to take effect on January 19, 2025, and make the distribution of TikTok illegal in the U.S. if parent company ByteDance has not divested. The D.C. Circuit is now considering a request for emergency injunction pending Supreme Court review. 

On December 3, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission published a proposed consent order that would settle its investigation into IntelliVision Technologies Corp. for making false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims regarding a lack of gender or racial bias in its AI-powered facial recognition technology.

In November 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute established a new taskforce to research and test AI models in areas critical to national security and public safety, while ODNI released guidance on the acquisition and use of foundation AI models, both part of the national security community’s response to the directives of the recent White House AI Memo and Executive Order 14110.

On December 3, 2024, the European Data Protection Board published its draft Guidelines 02/2024 on Article 48 of the GDPR, which focus on how a controller should act when subject to a judgment or administrative decision requiring the transfer or disclosure of personal data to a public authority in a third country.

Patrick Gunning of King & Wood Mallesons reports that on November 29, 2024, the Australian Parliament passed more than 30 bills on the final sitting day for the calendar year. Among the flurry of legislative activity were the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 and the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, the latest developments in Australia’s ongoing efforts to update its privacy legislation and address concerns related to children’s privacy.

In November 2024, the Federal Trade Commission released a staff perspective paper titled “Smart Device Makers’ Failure to Provide Updates May Leave You Smarting” that reflects on the findings from an FTC survey regarding software updates for smart products. 

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the effective date of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting rules on Form 8-K for material cybersecurity incidents, we provide a high-level overview of the last year’s developments.

On November 6, 2024, the Transportation Security Administration published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would subject critical surface transportation owners and operators to cyber risk management and reporting requirements.

On November 27, 2024, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton Andrews Kurth filed a response to the Department of Justice’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which implements Executive Order 14117 of February 28, 2024.

On November 25, 2024, the New York Attorney General and New York Department of Financial Services announced a $11.3 million settlement with insurance companies GEICO and Travelers over alleged legal violations related to cybersecurity incidents.