United Kingdom
UK FCA fines former employee of Virgin Media O2 for data protection breach
- Luke Coleman pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining and disclosure of personal data in breach of the Data Protection Act.
- Coleman sold confidential customer data to family friend Nicholas Harper for use in a boiler room fraud.
- Executive director of Virgin Media O2 stated that “Coleman abused his position of trust and enabled others to commit crimes which led to huge financial and emotional consequences for victims”.
Alan Turing Institute launches programme to bolster UK cyber defences
- Britain’s leading AI institute has announced a new mission to help protect the nation from cyber-attacks on infrastructure.
- The scheme aims to defend the UK’s assets from hostile threats in areas such as energy, transport and utilities.
- It will deepen existing partnerships with the national security and defence communities nationally and internationally to build strategic advantage in AI.
- On health, it will focus on creating digital twins of human hearts which could improve medical interventions and patient outcomes for critically ill cardiac patients.
United States
Hackers claim breach of HSBC US customer financial data
- Threat actors have made alarming claims regarding an extensive data breach affecting HSBC US customers.
- The claims concern a massive database containing PII including Social Security numbers (SSNs), bank account numbers, and account balances, among other confidential details.
- The alleged breach raises serious concerns about data protection standards and the adequacy of security measures employed by major financial institutions.
- If verified, this incident would represent one of the most significant breaches of a major international bank in recent years.
Bipartisan bill proposed to prohibit minors from interacting with AI Chatbots
- The GUARD Act, a bipartisan proposal, is intended to protect children in their interactions with AI.
- The new Bill would require anyone who owns, operates, or enables access to AI chatbots to verify the age of their users.
- It prohibits minors from interacting with “AI Companions”, defined as any AI chatbot that “provides adaptive, human-like responses to user inputs” and “is designed to encourage or facilitate the simulation of interpersonal or emotional interaction”.
- The Bill would make it a criminal offence to design or make chatbots that pose a risk of encouraging, or inducing minors to engage in sexual conduct, or which promote or coerce “suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, or imminent physical or sexual violence”.
Europe
Privacy group NOYB files criminal complaint against Clearview AI in Austria
- NOYB filed a criminal complaint in Austria against Clearview AI Inc. and its managers, based on violations of the GDPR and Austria’s Data Protection Act.
- NOYB claims that Clearview AI has disregarded EU decisions as it lacks an EU establishment and has not paid imposed fines.
- The company has previously been found in breach of the GDPR by regulators in France, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands in collecting and processing the data of millions of European citizens.
- The planned Austrian case seeks to test whether criminal enforcement can succeed where administrative penalties have struggled.
International
The Gambia to enhance digital trust with personal data protection and privacy bill
- Parliament in The Gambia has approved a draft Personal Data Protection and Privacy legislation.
- The Bill establishes for the first time a comprehensive legal framework dedicated to protecting the personal data and privacy rights of all Gambians.
- The document outlines the government’s commitment to ensuring its implementation, building institutional capacity, and promoting public awareness.
- The Data Protection Bill also directly aligns with the Gambian government’s Open Data Strategy 2023-2026.
