United Kingdom
Statement on ICO’s work to protect children online
- The ICO Deputy Commissioner (Regulator Policy), Emily Keaney, said new research from Children’s Daily Lives shows that “Children see sharing their personal information online as necessary to avoid social exclusion”.
- Children are “unaware” of the collection and use of their data by companies, and generally trust “big companies”. Platform design can exacerbate this lack of understanding and make it “difficult for children to make informed decisions about their privacy”.
- As part of the Children’s Code Strategy, the ICO has been encouraging companies to improve their children’s privacy practices. This includes a review of 34 social media and video sharing platforms.
TfL photocards still unavailable after cyber attack
- About 5,000 customers were contacted by TfL saying details including their sort codes, names, home addresses, emails and bank account numbers could have been accessed by hackers amid the “cyber security incident” at the start of September. A 17-year-old boy has been arrested over the hack.
- TfL apologised for the disruption and said it would start reissuing photocards again “shortly”, but has not indicated exactly when systems will be operational.
United States
Oracle’s $115 million privacy settlement faces some opposition from class members
- Over 25 objections have been filed against the proposed deal between Oracle and the plaintiff’s lawyers, who negotiated a $115m privacy settlement. The settlement allows eligible class members to receive about $25.
- Most of the challengers, who are part of the class, contend the amount of the settlement is inadequate. Others, argue it should be rejected due to the plaintiffs’ lawyers bid for $28.8m in legal fees.
- The class action accused Oracle of building “digital dossiers” on millions of people without their consent, violating federal and state privacy laws and California’s constitution.
- A hearing on the objections is scheduled for the 14th of November before U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg.
Who’s suing AI and who’s signing: Publisher deals vs lawsuits with generative AI companies
- News publishers are increasingly deciding to sign deals with AI companies over the use of their content. The deals commonly include the use of news publishers’ content as reference points for user queries in tools like ChatGPT (with citation back to their websites currently promised) as well as giving them the use of the AI tech to build their own products.
- Both OpenAI and Apple are exploring deals with news organizations.
- Some publishers, such as Reach chief execute Jim Mullen, are not in any “active discussions” with AI companies and suggested other publishers should hold off on deals to allow the industry to come at the issue with a position of solidarity. Instead noting the industry should be unified in strengthening their position when it comes to these agreements.
Europe
Vatican, Israel implicated in Italy hacking scandal, leaked files reveal
- Police wiretaps leaked to Italian media show that the Italian intelligence firm Equalize, which allegedly hacked information on thousands of people including politicians, entrepreneurs, athletes and even musicians, is accused of working for Israeli intelligence and the Vatican.
- According to these wiretaps, members of the hacking network, met with two Israeli agents at the firm’s office in February 2023 to discuss a task worth €1 million. The job was a cyber operation against Russian targets, and unearthing the financial trail leading from the bank accounts of wealthy figures to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. The information was then supposed to be passed on to the Vatican.
- The intelligence firm had hackers working in Colchester, England and had serves in the US and Lithuania. Prosecutors have ordered the seizure of a server in Lithuania and are evaluating whether to make a request to investigators in the U.K.
International
Victorian woman wins $30,000 in case that recognised right to privacy in Australian law
- A Victorian court has recognised invasion of privacy in Australian common law. The case involved a woman who successfully argued her father breached her privacy in a series of media interviews he gave after he survived a murder attempt, orchestrated by her mother.
- The case involved discussion of cases involving Meghan Markle and Naomi Campbell.
- Judge My Anh Tran said that while there was already a category of case involving a breach of confidence that was founded on the “fundamental common law right to privacy” that “the case for recognising this existing category of case as a standalone cause of action, separate and distinct from the action for breach of confidence, is compelling”.
- The plaintiff was awarded $30,000 damages for invasion of privacy and $10,000 damages for breach of confidence.
Brazil institute sues social media giants for $525 mln over usage by minors
- The consumer rights group, Brazil’s Collective Defence Institute, has filed two lawsuits demanding $525.27 million from the Brazilian units of TikTok, Kwai and Meta Platforms, for allegedly failing to create mechanisms to prevent indiscriminate use of these social media platforms by minors.
- The lawsuits demand the companies create clear data protection mechanisms and issue warnings about the risks to children’s and teenagers’ mental health due to platform addiction.
- The lawsuits are based on a series of studies on the possible damage caused by unsupervised use of social media, especially by children and teenagers.
