With Election Day fast approaching, corporations face increasing pressure from both internal and external forces to make legal decisions about political activities. This can be a fraught area of law, with little understood, highly technical regulatory issues that vary significantly across jurisdictions. Corporate counsel should be mindful of common—and sometimes
Continue Reading Avoiding Pitfalls on the Path to Election Day: Common Political Law Risks for Corporations in Election SeasonFDA Issues Draft Guidance on New Voluntary Targets for Sodium Reduction in Foods
August 21, 2024, Covington Alert
On August 15, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN) took another important step in its sodium reduction efforts by issuing a Draft Guidance that contains new voluntary targets for sodium reduction in foods. The Draft Guidance builds on FDA’s October 2021 Final Guidance on Voluntary Sodium Reduction Goals, which established short-term voluntary targets for reducing sodium in commercially processed, packaged and prepared food. The Draft Guidance proposes new three-year sodium reduction targets for 16 overarching food categories and 163 subcategories that are commercially processed and packaged, or prepared in food service establishments such as restaurants.
Background
Average sodium intake in the United States is currently almost 50% more than the recommended limit.[1] To help reduce sodium across the food supply, FDA has taken an iterative, step-wise approach that includes establishing voluntary sodium targets for industry, monitoring and evaluating progress, and engaging with stakeholders.
FDA’s sodium reduction efforts began in 2016, when it released draft guidance on the agency’s short-term and long-term goals for sodium reduction in a variety of commercially processed, packaged, or prepared foods. FDA issued final guidance on this topic in October 2021 (Final Guidance), in which it set a goal of reducing average sodium intake from over 3,400 mg/day to 3,000 mg/day. As of 2022, about 40% of the targets set for foods in the Final Guidance had been reached.[2] FDA has deemed the Final Guidance “Phase I” of its sodium reduction efforts.Continue Reading FDA Issues Draft Guidance on New Voluntary Targets for Sodium Reduction in Foods
European Commission Launches Consultation and Call for Expression of Interest on GPAI Code of Practice
On July 30, 2024, the European Commission announced the launch of a consultation on trustworthy general-purpose artificial intelligence (“GPAI”) models and an invitation to stakeholders to express their interest in participating in the drawing up of the first GPAI Code of Practice (the “Code”) under the newly passed EU AI Act (see our previous blog here). Once finalized, GPAI model providers will be able to voluntarily rely on the Code to demonstrate their compliance with certain obligations in the AI Act.
Consultation
The consultation provides stakeholders with the opportunity to have their say on topics that will be covered by the Code. It will also inform the AI Office’s development of the template summary of training material that GPAI model providers will be required to publish under Article 53(1)(d) of the AI Act.
The consultation covers three topics:
- Transparency and copyright: This relates to the documentation and policies that providers of GPAI models should have in place to comply with EU copyright law. Part D relates to the content and level of granularity expected from the template summary of training material referenced above.
- GPAI models with systemic risk: This relates to how the systemic risks associated with certain GPAI models should be classified, identified and assessed, mitigated, and internally governed (through policies and procedures).
- Reviewing and monitoring the GPAI Code of Practice: This relates to how the AI Office will encourage and facilitate the review and adaptation of the Code after its initial implementation.
Interested parties can submit their responses to the consultation via an online form by September 18, 2024. They also have the option to share additional information with the AI Office by filling out the template document featured at the end of the questionnaire.Continue Reading European Commission Launches Consultation and Call for Expression of Interest on GPAI Code of Practice
D.C. District Court Finds Google Monopolized Online Search Text Ads Markets
On August 5, 2024, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia concluded that Google has monopolized markets for online searches and search text advertising and unlawfully engaged in exclusionary conduct in those markets. Specifically, the court found that Google used revenue sharing agreements with
Continue Reading D.C. District Court Finds Google Monopolized Online Search Text Ads MarketsFederal Agencies Continue Implementation of AI Executive Order
With Congress in summer recess and state legislative sessions waning, the Biden Administration continues to implement its October 2023 Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (“EO”). On July 26, the White House announced a series of federal agency actions under the EO
Continue Reading Federal Agencies Continue Implementation of AI Executive OrderQuantum Computing: Developments in the UK and US
This update focuses on how growing quantum sector investment in the UK and US is leading to the development and commercialization of quantum computing technologies with the potential to revolutionize and disrupt key sectors. This is a fast-growing area that is seeing significant levels of public and private investment activity. We take a look at how approaches differ in the UK and US, and discuss how a concerted, international effort is needed both to realize the full potential of quantum technologies and to mitigate new risks that may arise as the technology matures.
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics principles to solve certain complex mathematical problems faster than classical computers. Whilst classical computers use binary “bits” to perform calculations, quantum computers use quantum bits (“qubits”). The value of a bit can only be zero or one, whereas a qubit can exist as zero, one, or a combination of both states (a phenomenon known as superposition) allowing quantum computers to solve certain problems exponentially faster than classical computers.
The applications of quantum technologies are wide-ranging and quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize many sectors, including life-sciences, climate and weather modelling, financial portfolio management and artificial intelligence (“AI”). However, advances in quantum computing may also lead to some risks, the most significant being to data protection. Hackers could exploit the ability of quantum computing to solve complex mathematical problems at high speeds to break currently used cryptography methods and access personal and sensitive data.
This is a rapidly developing area that governments are only just turning their attention to. Governments are focusing not just on “quantum-readiness” and countering the emerging threats that quantum computing will present in the hands of bad actors (the US, for instance, is planning the migration of sensitive data to post-quantum encryption), but also on ramping up investment and growth in quantum technologies. Continue Reading Quantum Computing: Developments in the UK and US
State and Federal Developments in Minors’ Privacy in 2024
This year has brought significant movement and trends in minors’ privacy legislation on both the state and federal levels. We recap the notable developments below.
Comprehensive Consumer Privacy Legislation
Individual states have continued to enact their own comprehensive consumer privacy legislation this year. All of the state comprehensive consumer privacy laws passed this year incorporate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) through parental consent and sensitive data processing requirements. Notably, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Maryland impose additional restrictions on the processing of minors’ personal data for targeted advertising, sales, and profiling. New Hampshire’s legislation prohibits processing of personal data for sales or targeted data “where the controller has actual knowledge or willfully disregards that the consumer is at least 13 and under 16.” Similarly, New Jersey’s comprehensive privacy legislation prohibits processing of personal data for sales, targeted ads, or profiling “where the controller has actual knowledge or willfully disregards that the consumer is at least 13 and under 17.” Maryland contains an outright prohibition on the sale or processing of personal data for targeted advertising “if the controller knew or should have known that the consumer is under 18.”
AADC and COPPA-Style Laws
States have continued to introduce Age Appropriate Design Codes (“AADC”), adding to the sweeping trend that emerged last year. Maryland’s new AADC law is similar to California’s AADC law, but departs notably by not requiring covered entities to implement age-gating and modifying the scope of covered entities to services that are “reasonably likely to be accessed by children.” The DPIA requirement in Maryland’s law focuses on “data management or processing practices” of the online product and specifies the harm that should be evaluated.Continue Reading State and Federal Developments in Minors’ Privacy in 2024
Quantum Computing: Developments in the UK and US
This update focuses on how growing quantum sector investment in the UK and US is leading to the development and commercialization of quantum computing technologies with the potential to revolutionize and disrupt key sectors. This is a fast-growing area that is seeing significant levels of public and private investment activity. We take a look at how approaches differ in the UK and US, and discuss how a concerted, international effort is needed both to realize the full potential of quantum technologies and to mitigate new risks that may arise as the technology matures.
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics principles to solve certain complex mathematical problems faster than classical computers. Whilst classical computers use binary “bits” to perform calculations, quantum computers use quantum bits (“qubits”). The value of a bit can only be zero or one, whereas a qubit can exist as zero, one, or a combination of both states (a phenomenon known as superposition) allowing quantum computers to solve certain problems exponentially faster than classical computers.
The applications of quantum technologies are wide-ranging and quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize many sectors, including life-sciences, climate and weather modelling, financial portfolio management and artificial intelligence (“AI”). However, advances in quantum computing may also lead to some risks, the most significant being to data protection. Hackers could exploit the ability of quantum computing to solve complex mathematical problems at high speeds to break currently used cryptography methods and access personal and sensitive data.
This is a rapidly developing area that governments are only just turning their attention to. Governments are focusing not just on “quantum-readiness” and countering the emerging threats that quantum computing will present in the hands of bad actors (the US, for instance, is planning the migration of sensitive data to post-quantum encryption), but also on ramping up investment and growth in quantum technologies. Continue Reading Quantum Computing: Developments in the UK and US
FCC Proposes New Consent and Disclosure Rules for AI-Generated Calls and Texts
On Wednesday, August 7, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would amend its rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to incorporate new consent and disclosure requirements for the transmission of AI-generated calls and texts. The NPRM builds off the FCC’s recent
Continue Reading FCC Proposes New Consent and Disclosure Rules for AI-Generated Calls and TextsFCC Adopts Order Establishing Voluntary IoT Labeling Program
On July 30, 2024, the Federal Register published the Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) Report and Order (the “Order”) creating a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices. As reported in our blog post issued shortly before the Order was approved on March 14, 2024, this program
Continue Reading FCC Adopts Order Establishing Voluntary IoT Labeling Program