The German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr – BMDV) has drawn up a new draft bill which shall introduce:

  • (i) a statutory obligation for providers of number-independent interpersonal communication services (e.g. instant messaging services) to allow their users to use end-to-end encryption (“E2EE”), and (ii) a statutory transparency obligation for such providers to inform their users accordingly; and
  • a statutory transparency obligation for providers of certain cloud services to inform their users about how to use continuous and secure encryption (“Draft Bill”).

The Draft Bill (status 7 February 2024), which does not have any basis in EU law, is available here (German content).Continue Reading Germany’s government plans to introduce a statutory ‘right to encryption’ for users of messaging and cloud storage services

On 26 November 2023, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), together with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), published joint ‘Guidelines for Secure AI System Development’ (the Guidelines).

The Guidelines were formulated by CISA and the NCSC, in cooperation with 21 other international agencies and ministries, as well as industry experts.Continue Reading UK & US cybersecurity agencies release new ‘Guidelines for Secure AI System Development’

On 3 October 2023, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office organised its annual Data Protection Practioner’s Conference 2023 (DPPC 2023). This year its focus was on Cybersecurity – a topic that concerns organisations across the board. Here are the takeaways from the DPPC 2023 (the event sessions available here).Continue Reading The UK Information Commissioner’s Data Protection Practioner’s Conference 2023 on Cybersecurity

On August 18, 2023, the Fourth Circuit decertified approximately 20 million putative class action claims arising out of a 2018 data breach involving Marriott Hotels. See here. The Fourth Circuit reversed the district court’s certification and required it to consider in the first instance whether all of the putative plaintiffs waived their claims by signing class action waivers when they registered to be part of the Starwood Preferred Guest Program (“SPG”). The SPG waiver specifically stated that “Any disputes arising out of or related to the SPG Program or the[] SPG Program Terms will be handled individually without any class action ….”Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Decision Highlights Class Action Waivers for Data Breaches are Alive and Well

On July 26, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted new rules specifying enhanced disclosure regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy governance, and incident disclosure. The SEC first proposed new cybersecurity rules back in March 2022. The agency’s comments to the final rule suggest greater disclosure and improved consistency of disclosures will benefit investors. Several of the key aspects of the final rules are outlined below, and ultimately will probably be navigable for organizations with meaningful incident response and evaluation experience as well as robust risk management programs which already include and evaluate cybersecurity.Continue Reading SEC Issues Final Cybersecurity Rules Enhancing and Modifying Disclosure Requirements: Companies will want to Measure Twice and Cut Once

Please click here to access the source post from our Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog.

In this blog, the authors delve into a significant decision by the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) four years ago, accusing a major technology company of abusive behavior due to alleged violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Recently

On June 27, 2023, the Council of Europe (“CoE”) announced the adoption of its first module of the Model Contractual Clauses (“MCCs”) for cross-border data transfers based on the Protocol amending the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108+). These model clauses aim to regulate data flows between data controllers and are recommended for adoption by competent authorities.Continue Reading Convention 108+: The Council of Europe Releases Model Contractual Clauses for Global Data Transfers

On 7 June 2023, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) released a report Multilayer Framework for Good Cybersecurity Practices for AI (“Framework”) in response to the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and the associated cybersecurity challenges. The publication aims to establish a robust framework that promotes cybersecurity practices throughout the entire lifecycle of AI, ranging from conceptualization to decommissioning. This blog summarises the main features of the Framework.Continue Reading ENISA Releases Comprehensive Framework for Ensuring Cybersecurity in the Lifecycle of AI Systems

The Critical Entities Resilience Directive (‘CER’) entered into force on 16 January 2023, replacing the 2008 European Critical Infrastructure Directive. The new rules are aiming to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure to a range of threats, including natural hazards, terrorist attacks, insider threats, or sabotage. The CER Directive introduces new obligations on entities providing

The European Union’s Second Network and Information Systems Directive (“NIS2”) entered into force on 16 January 2023, and replaces the NIS 1 Directive.  NIS2 aims to “improve the resilience and incident response capacities of both the public and private sector and the EU as a whole”. In addition to the EU’s NIS2 update, the UK has also recently expanded its Network and Information Systems Regulations, and further details can be found in our blog here.  The revised directive aims to remove divergences in cybersecurity requirements and in implementation of cybersecurity measures in different member states. To achieve this, it sets out minimum rules for a regulatory framework and lays down mechanisms for effective cooperation among relevant authorities in each member state. It updates the list of sectors and activities subject to cybersecurity obligations, and provides for remedies and sanctions to ensure enforcement.Continue Reading NIS2 toughens up EU’s cyber security obligations