Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency announced Monday. CFPB has key privacy authority under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Capitol Hill Republicans told us in recent interviews they plan to use budget negotiations to rein in the agency's cost and scope.
NetChoice challenged the Maryland Age-Appropriate Design Code (MAADC) Act that introduced new compliance requirements for companies reasonably assumed to be accessible to minors. The tech industry group filed a lawsuit Monday against Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D), alleging that the law restricts free speech and invades privacy through age-verification requirements.
Lawyers for the government and AT&T faced questions from a panel of judges on the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals as the bench heard arguments concerning the FCC’s $57 million fine against the carrier for inadequately protecting customers’ location data. T-Mobile has also challenged more than $92 million in fines in the D.C. Circuit, and Verizon disputed a $46.9 million penalty in the 2nd Circuit, but the 5th Circuit case was the first where a panel of judges heard oral argument.
Privacy advocate Vinhcent Le learned at the end of last week he was no longer a board member of the California Privacy Protection Agency, he told us Monday. A strong voice for the consumer and one of the CPPA board’s founding members, Le's exit is concerning, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said.
The Council of Europe has begun work on data protection and neurotechnology guidelines, which it expects to complete in around two years, sources told us. The interplay between neurotechnology and data protection is important given the growing use of the technology beyond the medical sphere, speakers said at a Data Protection Day conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
AI legislation drawing opposition because of its private right of action and potential conflicts with federal privacy law passed a New Mexico House committee Thursday.
It’s unclear whether replacements will be named for the recently dismissed members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, or if President Donald Trump’s decision to fire them will go unchecked, senators told us in interviews this week (see 2501280044).
Donald Trump becoming president again probably fueled momentum for a New York state health privacy bill, a business privacy lawyer and an American Civil Liberties Union official said in recent interviews. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) so far has kept her cards close to the vest concerning whether she will sign a health data privacy bill that sailed through the state's legislature last week (see 2501220073 and 2501210068). Meanwhile, privacy attorneys are sounding the alarm about possible business compliance problems.
While many believe that privacy laws can serve as a basis for AI regulation, AI may actually help determine privacy rules instead, said privacy professionals on a webinar hosted by George Washington University Law School Professor Daniel Solove on Wednesday.
Industry and consumer advocates on Wednesday voiced opposition against two kids’ social media bills that the Senate Commerce Committee is planning to take up.