Top News – FTC’s fine to Microsoft, US Lawmakers Questioning Twitter’s Compliance, and more

FTC fines Microsoft for COPPA Violations

Microsoft is slammed with a 20 million USD fine from the Federal Trade Commission related to its Xbox gaming system over alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). FTC’s claims suggest that no parental consent was obtained by Microsoft for children below 13 years before collecting their Xbox account data. Actions in the order proposed by FTC include federal court approval, a call to obtain parental consent, and a data deletion program. Read more

Connecticut Data Privacy Act Signed by the State Governor

On the 7th of June, 2023, the Governor of Connecticut signed a comprehensive bill on AI and personal data privacy. Effective from the 1st of July, 2023, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) requires that entities must emphasize on protecting children and teen data, while providing with new baseline privacy rights.

Attorney General William Tong released a detailed guidance delineating the Act’s enforcement, consumer rights, and effective measures for businesses to stay compliant with the CTDPA. Read more

Japan’s PIPC Warns Open AI over ChatGPT

The personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of Japan issued a warning to OpenAI concerning the sensitive information collected by the company to power its AI-based chatbot, ChatGPT. The PIPC asked OpenAI to consider the potential balance between privacy and benefits of generative AI while stating that the company should minimize its data collection and do so with necessary permissions. Read more

US Lawmakers Question Twitter’s Privacy Compliance

Four of the US Senators wrote to Elon Musk, Twitter’s Executive Chair and CEO Linda Yaccarino, citing the company’s privacy practices and compliance with FTC’s consent decree in 2011. The Senators called for details of the company’s necessary privacy and security assessments before the launch of its new products like Twitter Blue and its privacy programs, if any, after Twitter was taken over by Mr. Musk in October 2022. Read more

EU Border Agency’s audit reveals possible migrant data sharing

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) launched an investigation on Frontex, the EU’s border agency, for reported ‘automatic sharing’ of migrant information to Europol. Following the company’s audit, EDPS warned that Frontex is illegally sharing “troves of Europeans’ and migrants’ data” via its ‘Processing of Personal Data Risk Analysis.’ Read more

AI Act’s vote is uncertain, with four political parties falling apart

The EU AI Act faces uncertainty following the fall apart of an agreement between the four crucial political parties. European People’s Party, along with the other three, agreed in April that they wouldn’t make any amendments to the Act, allowing partial flexibility to EPP on remote biometric identification issue. The EPP has reportedly abused the flexibility by tabling separate amendments to the Act. The European Parliament is set to vote for the Act on the 14th of June. Read more