Client updates / Regulation

The United States, the European Union, and other countries have been imposing economic sanctions on Israel for quite some time. The recent sanctions imposed on Israeli settlers suspected or convicted of committing violence against Palestinians may be a harbinger of a broad regime of sanctions that may affect business activities in Israel.

Uber’s insufficiently clear privacy protection policy and lack of transparency about the collection of personal information on its employees resulted in a heavy fine.

2023 trends are expected to continue in 2024, including the constantly evolving regulation of AI tools and new privacy protection and data security issues, as well as attempts by Israeli and global authorities to keep up with the pace at which technology is evolving and changing the face of the business world.

The high fine spares Meta an official determination by the Israel Competition Authority that it violated competition law by failing to report mergers, and serves as a “warning sign” to other international corporations that may not be sufficiently familiar with the obligation pursuant to Israeli law to report a merger if the company fulfills the monopoly criterion.

While AI tools offer significant contributions to businesses, even non-technological ones, it’s crucial to understand the potential exposures these tools may present. This guide emphasizes the importance of conducting examinations and implementing AI tools in a legal and transparent manner.

The document published by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, specifies the principles for developing and supervising AI technologies and their use by entities in Israel.

The Regional Labor Court in Tel Aviv has recognized an employee’s resignation as tantamount to dismissal under the law due to the employer’s use of surveillance cameras around the employee’s workstation in a manner inconsistent with the Privacy Protection Authority’s guidelines and the court’s position in such matters.

The EU Data Act will supervise companies that manufacture and supply smart devices (IoT devices) and companies that handle data collected by these devices, as well as enact a series of regulations designed to protect consumer privacy.

Israel’s government has drafted new regulations in the wake of Operation Swords of Iron, due to the increase in the scope and quality of cyberattacks against civilian entities.

A man who entered Israel with drugs in his possession sought to expose the Israel Police’s use of AI tools that resulted in his inclusion in a list of suspected drug couriers. The court’s criticism of the police’s tactics clarifies that even if the AI system leads to correct identification or to accurate decisions, its mechanisms must be transparent, explainable and auditable. 

The United States is looking to institute rules for the safe development and use of artificial intelligence, to regulate government use of AI, and to establish its leadership in the AI field.

The new UK Online Safety Act is part of a wave of European legislation seeking to protect children from online age-inappropriate content, exploitation, and other online dangers.

Since a combat situation in Israel is not deemed force majeure, the legislature and the regulatory authorities recommend that parties to contracts hold dialogues on the contract terms in good faith, to the extent the state of emergency does not enable all contract clauses to be performed. Concurrently, the Knesset enacted the Postponement of Deadlines Law, which allows those entitled to postpone performance of contracts under particular circumstances.

The state of emergency the State of Israel has declared in recent days requires us all to contend with a unique and complex situation. As part of this struggle, many companies and organizations have instructed their employees to shift to working from home, thus requiring such employers to clarify their privacy and business data protection procedures.

The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority recently published a draft directive that imposes the responsibility for fulfilling certain obligations on the board of directors, including the obligation to appoint an officer responsible for compliance with the Privacy Protection Regulations

The Haifa District Court recently granted a motion to certify a class action regarding the manner in which price is displayed in installment transactions and the interest charged on those installments. This ruling holds great significance for businesses seeking to levy surcharges for customer installment payment options.

Employers’ use of technological tools to track their employees’ geolocations has sharply increased in recent years, as remote work has become more prevalent. The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority recently published its recommendations on the collection of geolocation data from employees’ vehicles.

The new arrangement for transferring information about EU citizens to the United States offers European and foreign companies a simpler mechanism to enable their privacy protection procedures to be recognized as GDPR-compliant.

Who is responsible for protecting the privacy of the information AI technologies collect? A new class action in California joins a series of AI-related lawsuits that may clarify this question.

Employers that want to use technological surveillance measures to monitor and track employee performance remotely must be diligent about formulating a clear policy, informing employees, and using these means reasonably and proportionately.