Legislation

The US Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are suing Adobe Inc. (and two Adobe executives) over an alleged hidden “Early Termination Fee” and an alleged overly complex subscription-cancellation process.  Hiding Important Information  In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, it’s alleged that Adobe Inc systematically…

Here we look at the new UK cybersecurity law that will ban device manufacturers from having weak, easily guessable default passwords, thereby providing extra protection against hacking and cyber-attacks.  The Problem  With 99 per cent of UK adults owning at least one smart device and UK households owning an average of nine connected devices, but…

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ordered Serco Leisure to stop using facial recognition technology (FRT) and fingerprint scanning to monitor employee attendance.   Not Necessary or Proportionate  An ICO investigation found that public service provider Serco Leisure, Serco Jersey and seven associated community leisure trusts had been “unlawfully processing the biometric data of more than…

With January 1 being ‘Public Domain Day’, we look at what ‘public domain’ actually means in relation to works of literature, music, art, and science.  Public Domain Day  New Year’s Day each year is called ‘Public Domain Day’ because it’s the day that the copyright protection on a wide range of creative works such as…

It’s been reported that The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that they used millions of its articles without permission to help train chatbots.  The First  It’s understood that the New York Times (NYT) is the first major US media organisation to sue ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI, plus tech giant Microsoft (which is…

Following the recent boardroom power struggle that led to the sacking and reinstatement of OpenAI boss Sam Altman, Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI is now under US and UK antitrust scrutiny.  What Happened?  A recent boardroom battle at OpenAI (ChatGPT’s creator and working partner of Microsoft), led to the rapid ousting of OpenAI’s boss Sam Altman…

Computer Weekly recently reported that in an interview with the outgoing England and Wales biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner, Professor Fraser Sampson, he warned of the declining state of oversight in AI facial recognition surveillance deployment by UK police.  Resignation  Professor Fraser Sampson emailed his resignation letter to (then) Home Secretary Suella Braverman in August,…