A Digital Europe – Digital Health and other Recent EU Data Initiatives
Taking a step into the digital age, the European Commission announced that the 2020s shall become the EU’s Digital Decade. The EU’s digitalization, including in the area of health, is one of the Commission’s key priorities and covers a wide range of actions and related initiatives.
Building on prior initiatives, in 2019 the Commission announced six key priorities (since supplemented by the COVID-19 recovery plan) that would shape the coming five years of policy making. One of these six key priorities is to create a Europe fit for the digital age and work on a digital strategy that will empower people with a new generation of technologies.
Big Data: Legal and Compliance Considerations for Investment Managers
Sidley Partners Nathan J. Greene and Colleen Theresa Brown are co-authors of a new chapter of the PLI treatise Investment Adviser Regulation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Compliance and the Law focusing on legal and compliance considerations for use of Big Data. The chapter examines the expanding range of topics facing investment management lawyers and compliance professionals, as well as the attendant legal and operational risks. The chapter includes an introduction to the concepts of data, alternative data, big data and artificial intelligence; examples of an organization’s data users, likely sources of data, and organizational controls for data collection and processing; and a review of the ways different types of data are regulated.
Regulatory Update: NAIC Summer 2020 National Meeting
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held its Summer 2020 National Meeting (Summer Meeting) from July 27 to August 14, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NAIC held the Summer Meeting in a virtual format, with conference calls taking place over a three-week period. Despite not being able to meet in-person, the NAIC utilized the Summer Meeting as an opportunity to host conversations among insurance regulators, industry members and consumers regarding recent events, including the impact of COVID-19 on the insurance industry as well as racial inequality and the promotion of diversity in the insurance industry. (more…)
European Commission’s Public Consultation on Proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Framework
On 19 February 2020, the European Commission published a white paper on the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the EU (the “White Paper”). The White Paper forms part of the Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen’s, digital strategy, one of the key pillars of her administration’s five year tenure, recognising that the EU has fallen behind the US and China with respect to the strategic deployment of AI. To tackle this problem, the Commission proposes a common EU approach to ‘speed up the uptake’ of AI in the EU, whilst also tackling the human and ethical implications of AI’s fast growing use in the EU, including the possible downsides of its use, such as opaque decision making and hidden, embedded gender and racial discrimination. In order to achieve a common EU approach to AI, and to create “trustworthy” AI that can rival developments in the US and China, the Commission proposes the creation of a regulatory framework for AI.
Regulatory Update: NAIC Fall 2019 National Meeting
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the NAIC) held its Fall 2019 National Meeting (Fall Meeting) in Austin, Texas, from December 7 to 10, 2019. The Fall Meeting was highlighted by the following activities.
Federal Banking Agencies Release Joint Statement on Use of Alternative Data for Credit Underwriting
On December 3, 2019, the five federal banking agencies1 issued a joint statement (the “Joint Statement”) regarding the use of alternative data for credit underwriting. The Agencies highlighted potential benefits that may arise from the use of alternative data, including the ability to make faster and more accurate credit determinations and the potential to provide credit at a lower rate or to individuals or small businesses that would otherwise be unable to access it. While the Agencies issued approving language regarding the use of certain types of alternative data, they also cautioned that the use of alternative data may have consumer protection implications, including fair lending, prohibitions against unfair, deceptive or abuse acts or practices and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Regulatory Update: NAIC Summer 2019 National Meeting
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held its Summer 2019 National Meeting (Summer Meeting) in New York City from August 3 to 6, 2019. The Summer Meeting was highlighted by the following activities.
Regulatory Update: NAIC Spring 2019 National Meeting
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held its Spring 2019 National Meeting (Spring Meeting) in Orlando, Florida, from April 6 to 9, 2019. This post summarizes the highlights from this meeting.
New York Department of Financial Services Issues Guidance Regarding Life Insurers’ Use of External Consumer Data in Underwriting
On January 18, 2019, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued Circular Letter 2019-1 (the Circular Letter), addressing insurers’ use of external consumer data and information sources in underwriting for life insurance. The Circular Letter follows an investigation commenced by NYDFS regarding life insurers’ use of external data, which was initiated in light of reports that insurers were using algorithms and predictive models that include unconventional sources or types of external data. Among other things, the Circular Letter provides guidance that when insurers use external data sources in connection with underwriting decisions, (1) the use of external data sources must not result in any unlawful discrimination, (2) the underwriting or rating guidelines must be based on sound actuarial principle; and (3) life insurers must have adequate consumer disclosures to notify insureds or potential insureds of the right to receive the specific reasons for any adverse underwriting decision based on such data. (more…)
Debate Continues on the Future of U.S. Privacy Regulation from California to Capitol Hill
With the midterm election out of the way, legislators on Capitol Hill and in state capitols are getting ready to consider the future of data privacy regulation in 2019 and consumer and industry groups continue to weigh in on the ongoing debate. The debate has begun to move from principles and frameworks to drafting of legislative language.