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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held this week that web scraping of publicly accessible data is legal. The case initially arose when LinkedIn sued a company, Hiq Labs, for scraping data off its site in order to evaluate employee attrition. …

Recently, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a “shields up” message to U.S. organizations, warning of potential cyberattacks relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While no definite threats have been confirmed or issued, the agency has provided guidance on vulnerabilities and common tactics and has cataloged known vulnerabilities. …

The ACLU put out an op ed on the privacy implications of digital currencies, highlighting that the technology may pose more threats to privacy than previously anticipated. The European Union court of justice (CJEU) ruled once again that EU continues to preclude the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data relating to electronic communications for the purposes of combating serious crime.…

Last week, the United States and the European Commission committed to a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, which will foster trans-Atlantic data flows and address concerns raised in 2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union when it struck down the Commission’s adequacy decision underlying the EU-U.S.…

The Cyber Law and Policy Scholars Conference (CLPSC) published its Call for Papers. Submissions are due by May 1, 2022. Last Friday, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc that accused the company of antitrust violations.  …

President Biden signed an executive order calling for a comprehensive review of the federal government’s stance toward cryptocurrencies, including an assessment of the risks to consumers, the financial system, and the climate. Agencies and regulators will prepare reports on digital assets, and the government will explore the creation of a U.S.…

Google has temporarily disabled Google Maps features in Ukraine that provide live information about how busy roads and places are following the recent invasion of Russian forces.A Virginia court refused to issue a geofence warrant, finding the warrant would be unconstitutional, as applied.…

On February 23d, the Privacy Research Group discussed the following current events: The European Commission has put forth a proposal this week on industrial data regulation. The proposal, called the Data Act, is especially notable in its push for greater data-sharing and the right to data portability.…

During the third PRG meeting of the Spring 2022 semester, the following topics were discussed: This week the UN convened an international committee of government experts to conduct preliminary negotiations on a new treaty regulating cybercrime. However, there are substantial divides over what types of actions could be regulated and over the definition of “cybercrime.”…

During the third PRG meeting of the Spring 2022 semester, the following topic were discussed. This week, the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022 has been introduced. It’s a bill requiring new transparency and accountability for automated decision systems. Requirements include conducting impact assessments for bias, effectiveness, and other factors.…