Top 10 Questions on the EU AI Act
The EU AI Act will be the first standalone piece of legislation worldwide regulating the use and provision of AI in the EU, and will form a key consideration in AI governance programs. The AI Act will have a significant impact on many organizations inside and outside the EU, with failure to comply potentially leading to fines of up to 7% of annual worldwide turnover.
Regulatory Update: National Association of Insurance Commissioners Spring 2024 National Meeting
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held its Spring 2024 National Meeting (Spring Meeting) March 15 through 18, 2024. This Sidley Update summarizes the highlights from this meeting in addition to interim meetings held in lieu of taking place during the Spring Meeting. Highlights include proposed updates to the regulatory review process for affiliated investment management agreements, continued discussion of considerations related to private equity ownership of insurers, and continued development of accounting principles and investment limitations related to certain types of bonds and structured securities.
FinCEN Seeks Input on Banks’ Collecting Partial Social Security Numbers for Customer Identification Programs
On March 28, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in consultation with the U.S. banking agencies and the National Credit Union Administration, issued a request for information (RFI) regarding the customer identification program (CIP) requirement for depository institutions (referred to herein as banks) to collect tax identification numbers (TINs).1 Comments are due by May 28, 2024.
Cybersecurity Takeaways From White House Tech Report
On Feb. 26, the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), released a report on how technology manufacturers and software developers can improve the cybersecurity posture of the U.S. This report, “Back to the Building Blocks: A Path Toward Secure and Measurable Software,” aligns with the Biden administration’s current, intense focus on combatting ever-increasing cyberthreats through software development and software manufacturer accountability. In this article, published by Law360 on March 26, Sidley lawyers Alan Charles Raul, Stephen McInerney and Vishnu Tirumala discuss the ONCD report and provide key take-aways for software developers and manufacturers, their senior management, and boards.
EU Formally Adopts World’s First AI Law
On March 13, 2024, the European Parliament formally adopted the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (“AI Act”) with a large majority of 523-46 votes in favor of the legislation. The AI Act is the world’s first horizontal and standalone law governing AI, and a landmark piece of legislation for the EU.
FTC Proposes Significant and Sweeping Changes to COPPA and Requests Public Comment
On January 11, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”) seeking to update the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) Rule in the Federal Register. Among other things, the proposed changes would require more granular privacy notices, require fairly detailed identification of, and parental consent to, third-party data sharing (including targeted advertising), expand the scope of personal information subject to COPPA, make it easier for parents to provide consent via text message, clarify various requirements around EdTech, including school authorization for parental consent, and impose significant new programmatic information security and data retention requirements.
UK and Australian Governments Sign “world-first” Online Safety and Security Memorandum of Understanding
On 20 February 2024, the UK Government and the Australian Federal Government co-signed a historic Online Safety and Security Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signifying the bilateral cooperation between the two countries to help boost their respective online safety regimes. Notably, this is the first arrangement of its kind, with the MoU intending to encompass a wide range of digital online safety and security issues. These include illegal content, child safety, age assurance, technology facilitated gender-based violence, and addressing harms caused by rapidly evolving technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence.
U.S. Department of Justice Signals Tougher Enforcement Against Artificial Intelligence Crimes
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco signaled robust future enforcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against crimes involving, and aided by, artificial intelligence (AI) in her remarks at Oxford University last week and reiterated shortly thereafter at the Munich Security Conference.
The U.S. Plans to ‘Lead the Way’ on Global AI Policy
Policymakers around the world took significant steps toward regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023. Spurred by the launch of revolutionary large language models such as OpenAI’s GPT series of models, debates surrounding the benefits and risks of AI have been brought into the foreground of political thought. Indeed, over the past year, legislative forums, editorial pages, and social media platforms were dominated by AI discourse. And two global races have kicked into high gear: Who will develop and deploy the most cutting-edge, possibly risky AI models, and who will govern them? In this article, published by the Lawfare Institute in cooperation with Brookings, Sidley lawyers Alan Charles Raul and Alexandra Mushka suggest that “the United States intends to run ahead of the field on AI governance, analogous to U.S. leadership on cybersecurity rules and governance—and unlike the policy void on privacy that the federal government has allowed the EU to fill.”
UK Publishes Cyber Governance Code of Practice for Consultation
On 23 January 2024, the UK government published its draft Cyber Governance Code of Practice (the “Code”) to help directors and other senior leadership boost their organizations’ cyber resilience. The draft Code, which forms part of the UK’s wider £2.6bn National Cyber Strategy, was developed in conjunction with several industry experts and stakeholders – including the UK National Cyber Security Centre. The UK government is seeking views from organizations on the draft Code by 19 March 2024.
