Show Notes
Episode 155 considers three important developments as 2024 opens:
-How the European Union’s pending AI Act blazes a new trail -How umbrella insurance may or may not apply to claims involving biometrics -How Quebec’s 2023 data privacy act will reshape privacy notices throughout North America.
Yugo Nagashima and Brion St. Amour, attorneys with the coast-to-coast U.S. law firm Frost Brown Todd LLP, team with the Data Privacy Detective to cover these three essential matters.
On December 9, the European Union published a preliminary agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act, a pioneering law that provides a framework for sale and use of AI in the EU. We consider what the AI Act covers and the four-levels-of-risk approach the EU will take for regulating AI.
We then jump into discussion of a class action lawsuit against Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. The suit claims a violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Does Krispy Kreme’s insurance coverage apply? We consider the distinction between the lawsuit's claims and the company’s umbrella policy. The insurer declared that Krispy Kreme is not entitled to an insurance paid defense, based on a policy exclusion.
The Quebec Act for protection of personal information in the private sector became law in September 2023. December 18, 2023 Guidance from Quebec’s Commission covers what must be in privacy notices, including that they be in clear, simple language (in French and English). https://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/politiques-de-confidentialite/ What is “clear and simple”? The Guidance offers a checklist of what organizations should say in their website privacy postings, and is certain to force changes in websites of digital businesses that cover U.S. and Canadian markets.
Time stamps: 01:16 — EU’s pending AI Act 10:11 — Umbrella insurance and biometrics 17:08 — Quebec’s 2023 data privacy act
More from Frost Brown Todd Podcast
Why do businesses create cookies for their websites – and what choices can visitors make when a popup asks us to choose? Can chatbots write privacy policies for businesses? How can we determine if a website shares personal information we provide to it – and if so, for what purposes?
When we visit websites, we increasingly see popups. Why is this? How does consent affect online advertising? And what’s changing in 2024?
Data clutter – we keep our homes tidy, at least some of us do. But what about digital data? It accumulates and grows over time. Unlike hard copy files, which can be pitched or sent to long-term (expensive) storage, data is silent and unobservable (except perhaps to IT personnel). Explore how organizations amass vast amounts of data containing personal information, some highly sensitive. There it resides, posing serious risks to organizations and individuals.
Major data privacy news from November - the meaning beneath the headlines: California issues proposed rules on ADTs – Automated Decision-making Technology. Applying California’s principal data privacy statute, the California Privacy Protection Agency proposes opt-out requirements, pre-use notices, and other measures for AI and related organizations. A New Landmark for Consumer Control Over their Personal Information: CPPA Proposes Regulatory Framework for Automated Decisionmaking Technology (ca.gov). The TSA is using biometrics at U.S. airports with little notice or disclosure. Some U.S. Senators have called “time-out.” What’s going on with biometrics at airports? BUR23A41 (senate.gov). The influential Data & Trust Alliance proposes eight cross-border Data Provenance Standards. Learn how international standards are being set by the private sector to increase transparency, reliability, and use of datasets essential for AI. Will data become labeled and tracked like food and art? How does private standard setting lay the groundwork for privacy conscious laws and regulations? Consider the immediate opportunity to provide your comments about AI and personal data privacy. The Data & Trust Alliance (dataandtrustalliance.org). Tune in to Episode 151 for analysis, as the world of data privacy spins toward 2024.
Perry Johnson & Associates (PJ&A) provides medical transcription services to healthcare organizations. Its website states that it offers “secure HIT solutions,” using “multiple U.S. based, secure data centers for documentation storage and disaster recovery.” But in November 2023, PJ&A began informing about nine million people by individually sent letters that “between March 27, 2023 and May 2, 2023, PJ&A learned that an unauthorized party gained access” to its network and “acquired copies of certain files from PJ&A systems.” A November 2023 TechRadar report summarizes the background: “A total of 8.95 million individuals are affected, with the stolen data including full names, birth dates, postal addresses, medical records, and hospital account numbers. Furthermore, the hackers took admission diagnoses, as well as dates and times of service. In some cases, the hackers also stole Social Security Numbers (SSN), insurance and clinical information from medical transcription files, and names of healthcare providers - all of which would be more than enough to stage highly convincing social engineering attacks (phishing, identity theft, etc.) and could result in many class-action lawsuits.” How did a leading MedTech company respond to this cybersecurity incident? Tune in to learn how one podcast listener was informed by letter about the wrongful release of the individual’s medical information and sought details with no success. Consider how society must prepare better to address the aftermath of data breaches and what we can do collectively and individually to protect our most sensitive information.