Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On October 25, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced the agenda for its annual PrivacyCon to be held on November 1, 2022. The event will cover consumer surveillance, automated decision-making systems, children’s privacy, listening devices, augmented and virtual reality, interfaces and dark patterns, and AdTech.

On October 24, 2022, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) proposed rules to implement its new law regarding automated employment decision tools (“AEDTs”).

On October 24, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent order with Drizly, an online alcohol ordering and delivery service, and the company’s CEO, for the alleged failure to maintain appropriate security safeguards that led to a data breach that affected 2.5 million consumers’ personal information.

On October 9, 2022, TC260 of China issued the Information Security Technology - Basic Security Requirements for Pre-installed App of Smartphones for public comment ending December 6, 2022 (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines are applicable to smartphone manufacturers and also provide reference to relevant regulators and third-party assessments.

On October 20, 2022, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth published a white paper entitled Protecting Children’s Data Privacy, Policy Paper I, International Issues and Compliance Challenges. The paper identifies and explores the key issues and challenges that organizations and data protection authorities face in the context of globally divergent legal standards and policy approaches relating to children’s data.

On October 18, 2022, the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) issued a new cybersecurity directive requiring passenger and freight railroad carriers to create plans for responding to cybersecurity incidents. The new directive is one of many actions taken by the Biden Administration to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the U.S.’s critical infrastructure following a significant ransomware attack on a major U.S. pipeline in 2021.

On September 23, 2022, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth submitted a response to the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (“DCMS”) on its Consultation on establishing a pro-innovation approach to regulating AI (the “Response”).

On September 23, 2022, New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes introduced S9563, also known as the “New York Child Data Privacy and Protection Act.” The bill, which resembles the recently passed California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, bans certain data collection and targeted advertising and requires data controllers to, among other obligations, assess the impact of their products on children.

On October 20, 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton brought suit against Google alleging various violations of Texas’s biometric privacy law, including that the company unlawfully collected and used the biometric data of millions of Texans without obtaining proper consent. The lawsuit alleges that, since 2015, Google has collected millions of biometric identifiers of Texas consumers, such as voiceprints and records of face geometry, through Google’s various products, including Google Photos, Google Assistant and Nest Hub Max, in violation of Texas’s biometric privacy law. Texas’s biometric privacy law prohibits the collection of biometric identifiers for a commercial purpose unless the individual whose biometric identifiers are collected is informed of the collection and provides consent. The law also requires companies to destroy biometric identifiers within a reasonable time, but not later than the first anniversary of the date the purpose for collecting the biometric identifier expires (except in limited circumstances).

On October 24, 2022, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) issued a £4.4 million fine to Interserve Group Limited for failing to keep employee personal data secure, which violates Article 5(1)(f) and Article 32 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), during the period of March 2019 to December 2020. The ICO determined that such violations rendered Interserve vulnerable to the cyber attack which took place between March 2020 and May 2020, affecting the personal data of up to 113,000 Interserve employees. The compromised data included contact details, national insurance numbers and bank account details, as well as special category data, including ethnic origin, religion, details of any disabilities, sexual orientation and health information.