Meta’s paid ad-free service launched in Europe in November was targeted in an Austrian privacy complaint. The complaint was filed by the digital rights group NOYB with Austria’s Data Protection Authority. The group disagrees with Meta on the concept of consent, arguing that a privacy fee does not guarantee a genuine free will of the user.
18 countries, including the United States and Britain, unveiled what is described as the first detailed international agreement on how to keep artificial intelligence safe from rogue actors, pushing for companies to create AI systems that are “secure by design.” The agreement is non-binding and carries mostly general recommendations such as monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data from tampering and vetting software suppliers.
Meta’s attempt to drag the Federal Trade Commission into federal court over its plans to bar the tech giant from monetizing children’s data was shot down by a judge. This decision delivers the agency a significant victory as it paves the way for the agency to move forward with its sweeping proposed restrictions, which children’s safety advocates say could serve as a template for keeping the tech giants’ privacy practices in check.
An analysis of the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on fertility indicate that states with abortion bans experienced an average increase in births of 2.3 percent relative to states where abortion was not restricted. The decision sparked the most profound transformation of the landscape of abortion access in 50 years.
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) proposed a regulatory framework for Automated Decision Making Technology, which defines important new protections related to businesses’ use of these technologies. The proposed regulations outline how the new privacy protections that Californians voted for in 2020 could be implemented.
Congressional leaders are discussing a controversial program that would reauthorize Section 702 surveillance, including by attaching it to the National Defense Authorization Act.
(Compiled by Student Fellow Júlia Strack)