Following several unsuccessful attempts to secure federal preemption of state artificial intelligence regulations through Congress, President Trump turned to executive action, signing a sweeping executive order last Thursday night, entitled “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence”. The Executive Order directs federal agencies to challenge state laws regulating AI, with the stated

As firms face rising data volumes, competitive pressure, and regulatory scrutiny, asset managers are increasingly turning to tools driven by artificial intelligence for everything from investment research and portfolio construction to risk modeling and operational efficiency.

In a recent whitepaper, Ropes & Gray partners Melissa Bender, Amy Jane Longo, Fran Faircloth, Megan

As a recent DataPhiles post explored, the threat to telecommunications infrastructure and private call records posed by foreign threat actors only continues to grow. In fact, at least one U.S. government agency has urged employees to avoid using mobile communications for any work-related activity. This has led private entities to wonder how they might protect the sensitive mobile communications of officers and employees.

Continue Reading New Year, New Threats: Practical Tips for Secure Communications after Salt Typhoon

After its election to power in July 2024, the newly formed Labour government wasted little time in announcing its legislative priorities for the coming year. Unsurprisingly, these priorities included several proposed Bills relating to data protection, cybersecurity and digital regulation. At the time of writing, only one of these Bills—the Data (Use and Access) Bill (“DUAB”)—has been introduced to Parliament, with the others expected to follow in early 2025.

Continue Reading Meet the In-Laws: the UK’s Digital Legislative Agenda for 2025

Cybersecurity and national security collided in significant ways in 2024, with governments and private-sector entities grappling with the legal, technical, and policy challenges of a rapidly evolving cyber landscape. Offensive cyber operations, questions of foreign ownership of social media companies, and the balance of power between the Executive and Legislative branches are just a few of the pressing issues shaping the modern landscape. OAs governments and private entities grapple with these challenges, the legal frameworks governing cybersecurity are evolving rapidly, offering both opportunities and risks for practitioners.

Continue Reading Deck the Halls with Cyber Walls: Navigating National Security in the Digital Age

2024 was a record year for cyberattacks in the healthcare sector. According to the Breach Portal maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), to date this year, there have been more than 530 breaches of protected health information (“PHI”) affecting 500 or more individuals. 2024 also the saw the largest known breach of PHI at a HIPAA-regulated entity: Russia-linked cybercrime organization, BlackCat/ALPHV executed a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, Inc., the payment processor owned by UnitedHealth, which affected the records of more than 100 million individuals.

Continue Reading A Flurry of Healthcare Sector Cybersecurity Regulatory Developments in 2024

While there are many significant federal laws and regulations related to cybersecurity, states have led the way in regulating this area on a general, sector-agnostic basis, with the most notable and widely acknowledged state cybersecurity provisions being state data breach notification laws.  However, more recently, states have focused on passing comprehensive privacy, rather than security, laws, and 2025 promises to be a continuation of this trend, with eight additional comprehensive state privacy laws coming into effect next year.  

Continue Reading Making a List and Checking it Twice:  Navigating State Privacy and Security Regulations This Year

In the six years since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) took effect, governments around the world have updated their data protection laws to reflect the seismic changes in data processing that were created with the introduction of the smartphone. Having been in place for nearly 40 years, Australia’s Privacy Act (1988) has been a notable outlier – but that is now changing, with significant reforms to the country’s data protection regime being introduced in the latter half of 2024.

Continue Reading Australia’s Privacy Reforms: Claus for Concern?

While students are about to embark on their holiday break, there is no such luck for educational technology (“EdTech”) providers. Privacy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence compliance obligations have proliferated over the past year, with no signs of slowing down. While it is hard to keep track of the numerous regulations and proposals on the state and federal level, below, I have highlighted a few issues for EdTech providers to monitor in the coming year.

Continue Reading No Holiday Break for EdTech Compliance