Client updates / Regulation

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.

It is surprising to realize Israel does not have a general regulatory binding framework for the approval of such transactions as they pertain to national security, like CFIUS in the United States , the recent UK National Security and Investment Act 2021, or similar bodies in developed countries. As a result, there are no broad cross-sector consolidated controls on foreign investments.

An EUR 1.2 billion fine was imposed on Meta after the EDPB ruled the company was systematically transferring the personal data of millions of Facebook users from the European Union to servers in the United States in violation of the European GDPR.

New provisions set out the licensing framework for the provision of payment services, designed to encourage new players to enter the Israeli market and offer payment services while providing broad protection to consumers. The law will apply to companies providing payment services, credit service providers, acquirers, and more.

In order to contend with the meager supply of investment advice or portfolio management services via technological interfaces, the Israel Securities Authority has published a proposed amendment to the directive focusing on two main services: trading signal services and social trading. Both of these services rely on digital media.

The regulations grant several new rights to the relevant data subjects, when the database contains information transferred from the European Economic Area (EEA) to Israel, including the data subject’s right to delete information and a broader right of review.

The publication of the questionnaire aligns with global trends and reflects the importance of this subject for investors. According to the TASE press release, only 70 companies currently publish full ESG reports.

The monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions is not only important for protecting environmental quality, but it also offers commercial benefits, such as monitoring energy and supply chain expenses and participating in carbon emissions trading markets. 

A few months after ChatGPT became a popular tool for millions of users, users began filing lawsuits alleging violations of users’ privacy and data security breaches. The conclusions from these lawsuits are relevant to all companies engaging in the development and assimilation of AI technologies.

At the conclusion of a proceeding conducted over about two years, an Israeli court recommended that the class plaintiffs withdraw their actions in light of the legal difficulties and since there is no reasonable possibility that the legal questions will be  ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs accepted the court’s recommendation, and the court dismissed in limine 66 class actions.

Notwithstanding growing awareness and the measures being taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (as part of Israel’s commitment under the Paris Agreement), the emerging Arrangements Law could cause a regression in environmental legislation and hinder efforts to protect Israel’s population from environmental hazards.

The more artificial intelligence permeates additional spheres of private and public life, the greater the need to regulate uses of this technology. Various artificial intelligence regulations are already in place around the world and additional regulatory initiatives are being promoted at a rapid pace.