Top News – US-UK Data Bridge becomes law, Banning Surveillance Ad Act introduced, and more

U.S. – UK Data Bridge to take effect from 12th October

U.S. - UK Data Bridge comes into effect after the Secretary of State for Science, Technology, and Innovation, U.K., laid regulations in the country’s parliament to maintain high standards of privacy. The regulations will take effect from 12th October. A series of supporting documents were also released by the U.K. government, including a fact sheet, an explainer, and a detailed analysis of U.S. privacy safeguards related to the bridge. Read more

Injunction issued against California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act

A preliminary injunction was granted against the online child protection law, the California Age - Appropriate Design Code Act, by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The injunction was sought by the tech trade group NetChoice. The federal judge granted the request, writing that the law doesn’t pass constitutional muster and probably violates the First Amendment. Read more

Banning Surveillance Advertising Act introduced by the U.S. Lawmakers

The Banning Surveillance Advertising Act introduced by lawmakers in the U.S. would ban the usage of personal information by advertising networks and facilitators for targeted ads. The act would also prohibit targeted advertising based on personal data purchased from brokers and protected class information, including gender, race, etc. Contextual and targeted ads relevant to broader locations would be allowed as a part of the act. Read more

U.K. parliament passes the Online Safety Bill

The Online Safety Bill was passed by the Houses of the U.K. Parliament and would become law after receiving Royal Assent. The Office of Communications would adopt a phased approach to bringing the bill into force. Non-compliance could cost companies a fine of 10 percent of their global annual revenue. Taking a zero-tolerance approach to protecting children’s privacy, the bill would make social media platforms responsible for the hosted content. Read more

Canada Post faces allegations of violating the Privacy Act

The Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada, OPC, alleged Canada Post is breaking the Privacy Act by unlawfully binding a marketing database and personal information collected from mail items. An investigation and proceeding report from the federal watchdog claimed the postal service’s nonconsensual collection of personal data violated Section 5 of the act. Read more