The U.S. Federal Trade Commission finalized the programming for its Sept. 8 public forum on its privacy and data security rulemaking proposal. The FTC staff-moderated panel discussions include industry and advocate perspectives on commercial surveillance and data security.
Members of European Parliament leading discussions on the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act are moving toward text consolidation while submitting initial proposals to address high-risk AI systems, Euractiv reports. A European Parliament official said "constructive discussions" on high-risk systems are ongoing with dialogue focusing on provider obligations and responsibilities, administrative procedures, and technical measures.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights is overburdened with data breach complaints, Politico reports. The OCR has “fewer investigators than many local police departments” and each of whom is assigned hundreds of cases at any one time. The office has a budget of $38 million.
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office opened a criminal investigation into eight people who allegedly stole personal injury data from car repair shops. The theft allegedly occurred between December 2014 and November 2017 and affected "hundreds of thousands" of people.
Ransomware damages are expected to exceed $30 billion worldwide in 2023, InfoSecurity reports. Citing cybersecurity firm Acronis’ mid-year cyberthreat report, almost half of all data breaches in 2022 began with stolen credentials. Six hundred malicious email campaigns were launched in the first half of 2022, 58% of which were phishing emails and 28% contained malware, per Acronis’ report.
In an interview with Netzpolitik, European Data Protection Board Chair Andrea Jelinek defended harmonized enforcement of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, saying authorities have "very good and unexcited, cross-border cooperation." On whether GDPR reform is required, Jelinek said the EU has "a system that works" but noted the regime "can always be filled with more life." She also spoke on the Irish Data Protection Commission's case on Meta's EU-U.S.
The Hindu reports Indian Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw indicated a fresh data protection bill will be published for public comments soon and hopefully be tabled during Indian Parliament's Budget Session in January 2023.
The U.S. National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office Director Lynne Parker recently resigned from the post, the MIT Technology Review reports. Parker was the first director of the NAIIO after it was established in January 2021. The NAIIO’s goal is to protect the U.S. as a leader in AI research, most notably the development of trustworthy AI. Also, to train the future U.S. workforce to work with AI technologies.
Members of a parliamentary committee pressed top Indian Twitter officials after a whistleblower divulged information about company operations, The Wire reports. Former Twitter Head of Security Peiter Zatko claimed the company has lax security standards. Members of Indian Parliament questioned Senior Director of Public Policy Samiran Gupta and Director of Public Policy Shagufta Kamran about the revelations and they denied any breaches occurred.