Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On February 16, 2023, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP held a virtual roundtable to discuss the role of age assurance and age verification tools as part of its Children’s Data Privacy Project. Representatives from CIPL member companies, data protection authorities, civil society and experts exchanged views on the effectiveness of different methodologies and emerging best practices to shield minors from harmful or inappropriate content.

On March 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released an update to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance (“ECCP Guidance”). The ECCP Guidance serves as a guidance document for prosecutors when evaluating a corporate compliance program. Among other updates, the ECCP Guidance now includes new guidance for assessing how companies govern employees’ use of personal devices, communication platforms and messaging applications.

On March 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced it issued orders to eight social media and video streaming platforms seeking Special Reports on how the platforms review and monitor commercial advertising to detect, prevent and reduce deceptive advertisements, including those related to fraudulent healthcare products, financial scams and the sale of fake goods. The FTC sent the orders pursuant to its resolution directing the FTC to use all available compulsory process to inquire into this topic, and using the FTC’s Section 6(b) authority, which authorizes the FTC to conduct studies that do not have a specific law enforcement purpose.

On March 15, 2023, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office finalized rules implementing the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”). The finalized rules were released with an official redline that reflects prior revisions of the rules dated December 21, 2022, January 27, 2023, and February 23, 2023. The rules will be published in the Colorado Register later this month and will go into effect on July 1, 2023, when the CPA takes effect.

On March 6 and 15, 2023, both chambers of the Iowa Legislature unanimously voted to approve Senate File 262, which could make Iowa the sixth U.S. state to enact comprehensive privacy legislation. The bill is most similar to Utah’s comprehensive privacy law.

On March 15, 2023, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published an updated version of its guidance on AI and data protection (the “updated guidance”), following requests from UK industry to clarify requirements for fairness in AI. 

This is an excerpt from Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) President Bojana Bellamy’s recently published piece in the IAPP “Privacy Perspectives” blog, and are the views of the author.

On March 9, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled administrative charges against Blackbaud Inc. The case stems from disclosures Blackbaud made to investors regarding a 2020 ransomware attack that targeted donor data management software the company provides to non-profit organizations.

On March 1-3, 2023, the Utah legislature passed a series of bills, SB 152 and HB 311, regarding social media usage for minors. For social media companies with more than five million users worldwide, SB 152 would require parental permission for social media accounts for users under age 18, while HB 311 would hold social media companies liable for harm minors experience on the platforms. Both bills have been sent to the governor’s desk for signature.

On March 3, 2023, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) Board held a public meeting regarding the Agency’s priorities, budget, the status of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”) rulemaking process and the activities of the CPPA subcommittees. The meeting focused on the following topics: