TOP NEWS | Illinois Enacts AI Regulation to Combat Employment Discrimination; Disney Withdraws Legal Defense in Wrongful Death Suit Following Backlash and more.

Illinois Enacts AI Regulation to Combat Employment Discrimination

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed HB 3773 into law, effective January 1, 2026. The law amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in employment settings, prohibiting AI that leads to discrimination based on protected classes. Employers must notify employees when using AI in recruitment, hiring, or other employment decisions. The law emphasizes preventing AI-driven disparate impacts, regardless of intent, and charges the Illinois Department of Human Rights with enforcement and implementing necessary rules. Read more

Texas Takes Lead in Privacy Enforcement with Major Cases

Texas is positioning itself as a key authority in privacy enforcement. Recently, the state secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta over alleged biometric data misuse and filed a lawsuit against GM for selling driving data without consent. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a broader privacy initiative, focusing on data protection and AI misuse, backed by expanded resources. These efforts are bolstered by Texas' willingness to use existing consumer protection laws alongside new privacy regulations. Read more

National Public Data Breach: Inaccuracies and Duplicates Raise Questions

The recent National Public Data breach, initially reported as exposing nearly all U.S. Social Security numbers, is now under scrutiny for containing inaccuracies and duplicates. Researchers found that out of the 2.9 billion records, only 899 million are unique, with many belonging to deceased individuals or holding incorrect information. Despite inflated claims, the breach still contains sensitive Social Security numbers. Experts highlight the ongoing need for stringent data protection regulations and improved identity verification strategies. Read more

U.S. Appeals Court Revives Chrome Users' Data Collection Lawsuit Against Google

A U.S. appeals court ruled that Google must face a revived lawsuit by Chrome users who claim their data was collected without permission after they chose not to sync their browsers with Google accounts. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a previous dismissal, stating the lower court should have considered if users reasonably consented to the data collection. The lawsuit covers users who did not sync their browsers since July 2016. Google has not responded to the decision. The case is Calhoun et al v Google LLC. Read more

Disney Withdraws Legal Defense in Wrongful Death Suit Following Backlash

Disney reversed its plan to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit by citing Disney+ terms of service. The lawsuit involves a man's wife who died after an allergic reaction at Disney World. Disney initially aimed to enforce arbitration based on terms agreed to during a Disney+ trial sign-up. Public outcry led Disney to drop this defense. This case raises concerns about how terms in one service agreement may extend across multiple platforms. Read more