The recent development regarding the U.K. government's legal attempts to gain backdoor access to Apple's encrypted data once again thrust the privacy-preserving technique back into the spotlight. IAPP Staff Writer Lexie White recaps stakeholder remarks from a recent webinar covering the broader debate on the implications of encryption, including law enforcement access to data and considerations for children's online safety.
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Author: IAPP IAPP News
U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., announced a new working group dedicated to finding a path forward on potential comprehensive data privacy legislation. Guthrie said the nine-member Republican committee will be led by Rep. John Joyce, R-Md., and aims to "bring members and stakeholders together to explore a framework for legislation that can get across the finish line." The working group is open to stakeholder input.
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Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, issued a preliminary legal assessment to Apple for its App Tracking Transparency framework. The Bundeskartellamt found Apple's ATT, which excludes Apple itself from its requirements for app developers to obtain additional consent from users to access certain data, could be illegal under the German Competition Act's special abuse control provisions for large digital companies.
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According to a letter received by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., from acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris, the Department of Justice is maneuvering to stop defending the independence of the National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Product Safety Commission, Reuters reports. Harris reportedly wrote the DOJ will ask the Supreme Court to overturn a 90-year precedent affirming that FTC commissioners and members of other bipartisan independent agencies can only be fired for cause, which differs from executive branch agencies whose heads the president can fire at will.
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South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission fined software company Sectanine KRW1.5 billion for allegedly failing to protect its users from data breaches and not disclosing those breaches in a timely manner. Meanwhile, the PIPC is also working with internet browser providers, such as Google, Microsoft and Mozilla, to improve automatic login safety protocols.
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Finland's Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman said it will conduct around 10 audits to ensure personal data processing compliance in its 2025 plans. The plan will later be expanded with more information on the agency's 2026-27 planned activities.
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An association of administrative law judges filed a federal lawsuit arguing the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency's request for their personal data violates the Privacy Act and threatens their safety, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, former associate White House counselor Alan Charles Raul argued in an op-ed for The Washington Post the DOGE and President Donald Trump's efforts to restructure the government are unconstitutional. Editor's note: IAPP Editorial Director Jedidiah Bracy reported on DOGE privacy implications.
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Wired reports on how increases in reported feelings of loneliness may be giving fodder to romance scams and confidence fraud. The rise of generative AI has also made it easier for scammers to target multiple people and create dating profiles.
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As countries have taken various steps to address AI risks, an overarching theme of safety versus innovation has emerged. IAPP Staff Writer Caitlin Andrews reports on how the ongoing debate is shaping up in the U.S., where the federal government is embarking on a stark AI policy shift and how state legislatures are continuing to address AI in their own ways.
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The European Commission decided to scrap its two-year-old proposal for the AI Liability Directive this week, citing a lack of agreement on how to proceed as criticisms of the bloc's approach to digital technology have increased. IAPP Staff Writer Caitlin Andrews reports on the Commission's move to abandon it and how it may signal a desired softening of the bloc's digital regulatory approach.
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