New Court Rulings in Israel – Israeli Court Narrows the Tax Benefits for New Immigrants

Dear Clients, Colleagues and Friends, Two new court rulings that were published in the last couple of weeks, cast some light on the interpretation of the tax benefits provided to New Immigrants, and the ongoing trend of minimising the application of these benefits. Background New Immigrants and Long Absent Returning Residents (individuals who return to […]

White House Proposes Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in the Private Sector

29/01/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The White House has published its proposed regulatory principles to govern the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the private sector (the Guidance). The Guidance sets out policy considerations that should guide regulatory and non-regulatory oversight of AI applications developed and deployed outside the Federal Government. The Guidance, […]

The Climate Change Challenge – What Corporate Legal Counsel Need to Know

Corporations across all business sectors are facing increased risk due to climate change on multiple levels – physical risk to infrastructure and facilities, risk of supply chain disruptions, rising costs of financing and insurance, regulatory and litigation risks. Corporate legal counsel stand at the intersection of these developments, to identify climate-related risks and create tools […]

US Federal Court Enforces Against Deceptive Advertising Practices

06/12/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight Utah’s federal district court has recently issued its decision in the case of Vitamins Online, Inc. v. Heartwise, Inc. (doing business as “NatureWise“). The case addressed NatureWise’s alleged violations of the Lanham Act, which forbids false advertising, and Utah’s common law, due to its unfair competition and false […]

Recommendations of the Privacy Protection Authority regarding the conduct of epidemiological investigations

Dear Clients and Colleagues, We wish to update you that on 30 November 2020 the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority (the “Privacy Authority“) issued a publication setting out recommendations for the protection of privacy of individuals participating in epidemiological investigations which are being conducted for the purposes of containing the spread of the Coronavirus (the “Publication“). […]

Global Funds Regulation | Additional Exchanges for “Dual-Listing” of ETFs

The ISA proposes to expand the list of exchanges that make ETFs eligible for “Dual-Listing” on the Tel-Aviv-Stock Exchange The Israel Securities Authority published a proposed amendment to the Joint Investments in Trust Regulations (Offering of Foreign Fund Units), 2016, which expands the list of exchanges that make ETFs eligible for “Dual-Listing” on the Tel-Aviv […]

New York City Automated-Decision Systems Task Force Issues its Report

29/01/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The New York City Automated Decision Systems Task Force, which was established in early 2018, has released its final report on recommendations for establishing a framework for the use and policy around Automated Decision-making Systems (“ADS”). The use of ADS (such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, […]

California Attorney General Releases Third Draft of CCPA Regulations

12/03/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The Attorney General of California (“AG“) has released a third draft of CCPA proposed regulations for public consultation. The new proposed regulations include a series of technical and material modifications to the previous draft, released just a month ago (see our related update), and are available for written […]

Establishment of a “Do Not Call Me” Database

Dear Clients and Friends, On November 24, 2020, Amendment No. 61 to the Consumer Protection Law, 1981 (the “Amendment” and the “Law“) was published in the Official Government Gazette. The Amendment sets out a general arrangement regarding the establishment of a “Do Not Call Me” database that aims to restrict dealers from contacting consumers by […]

New Arrangement for Quarantine Days

Dear Clients and Colleagues, On July 30, 2020, we updated you of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which cancelled the validity of the comprehensive medical leave certificate issued by the Ministry of Health, by virtue of which employers were required to pay sick leave to employees in quarantine. In order to allow time for the authorities […]

European Parliament Endorses Collective Actions for Data Protection Violations

26/11/2020 Technology & eCommerce Regulation in the Spotlight The European Parliament has endorsed legislation that would provide EU consumers with a right to file class action lawsuits with regard to their collective interests. Currently, collective redress systems only exist in certain EU jurisdictions. This new legislation, titled ‘the Collective Redress Directive‘ (“Directive“), is aimed to […]

Google Plans to Phase out Third Party Cookies in Chrome

29/01/2020 Technology &  Regulation in the Spotlight In continuation of Google’s previous announcement regarding its plans to develop open standards to enhance privacy on the web, Google has recently announced that it will phase out support for third-party cookies in its browser Chrome, within the next two years. Google claims that despite users’ demand for […]

ICO Publishes its Age Appropriate Design Code

29/01/2020 Technology &  Regulation in the Spotlight The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO“) has published its final Age Appropriate Design Code. The Code sets out standards to which service providers should adhere in order to protect children’s privacy. The Age Appropriate Design Code includes 15 standards and covers services that are likely to be accessed or […]

Washington State Introduces New Privacy Act Bill

29/01/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight Washington State Senator Carlyle has introduced a new version of the Washington Privacy Act bill (“WPA“). The proposed holistic version of the WPA is designed to provide a comprehensive data protection framework for the residents of Washington, which will go beyond the scope of the California Consumer Privacy […]

The Bank of Israel Releases Draft Guidelines for Implementation of Open Banking Standards

29/01/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The Bank of Israel (“BOI“) has released a draft of the Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive on the implementation of open banking standards. According to this draft Directive, banks and credit card companies will be required, subject to their customers’ explicit consent, to enable licensed and supervised […]

UK to Appoint New Internet Harms Regulator

26/02/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The United Kingdom (“UK“) Digital Secretary and the Home Secretary have announced that the British Government is minded to appoint the existing communications watchdog, Ofcom, to regulate safety on the Internet. The announcement came as a part of the government’s response to the public consultation on the Online […]

FTC Toughens Enforcement against Comparison Websites and Influence Marketers

26/02/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight FTC Enforces against Operators of Comparison Website for Deceptive Ranking of Financial Products The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC“) has settled a case against the operators of LendEdu, a website that compares student loans and other financial products, for touting fake positive reviews and misleading consumers with rankings of […]

European Commission Published a White Paper on Artificial Intelligence Rules

26/02/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The European Commission has published a White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (“AI“) that sets out the Commission’s proposals to promote the development of AI in Europe, whilst ensuring respect of fundamental human rights through an appropriate regulatory framework. The White Paper is characterized by a risk-based approach in […]

Consequences of Brexit on Application of GDPR in the UK

26/02/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The United Kingdom (“UK“) officially withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020 and has entered a Brexit transition period. Based on the withdrawal agreement that was ratified by the European Union (“EU“) and the UK, EU law will continue to apply in the UK until 31 […]

California Attorney General Releases Updated CCPA Draft Regulations

26/02/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The Attorney General of California has released the updated CCPA Proposed Regulations for public consultation. The new Proposed Regulations contain a number of material modification to the previous draft released October 2019 and are available for written comments by 25 February 2020. One of the significant changes in […]

Data Protection in The Times of Coronavirus: Teleworking

24/03/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight In order to combat the proliferation of COVID-19, many businesses are now instructing their employees to engage in teleworking, in lieu of attending work as normal​. In this context, we would like to inform you of important and recent regulatory and industry guidelines, directed at both employers and employees, to help organizations mitigate data […]

DoJ Releases Guide for Lawful Threat Intelligence Gathering

15/03/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The U.S. Cyber Security Unit of the Department of Justice (“DoJ”) has released its guidance on legal considerations when gathering online cyber threat intelligence and purchasing data from illicit sources for cyber security purposes (“Guidance”). Although the Guidance is not legally binding, it is intended to assist organizations […]

Congratulations to our client ,payment fraud prevention company, Forter

Our client, payment fraud prevention company, Forter, has officially become a unicorn. The company raised $125 million in its series E funding round, which gave it the coveted valuation. Due to the pandemic, eCommerce became the main life-line for many companies and businesses, and securing these transactions became even more critical and complicated. Our team, led […]

Spanish Privacy Regulator Issues Guidance on AI-Based Data Processing

04/03/2020 Technology &  Regulation in the Spotlight The Spanish Data Protection Authority (“AEPD“) issued guidance on the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR“) on products and services that embed Artificial Intelligence (“AI“). The guide addresses the concerns and risks that managers and developers must take into account when designing, training and deploying AI-based […]

Is Consent Required for Direct Marketing under the GDPR?

30/04/2020 Technology &  Regulation in the Spotlight As further detailed below, it was commonly acceptable that data controllers that are subject to the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) can rely on their legitimate interests for using personal information obtained from existing customers, for direct marketing purposes, without requiring a separate consent. However, a recent […]

Updates to Google Play Policies on Trust, Control and Deceptive Content; Special Update for Covid-19

22/04/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight Google has recently announced a series of policy changes to its Google Play Store Developer Program policies, aimed at eliminating untrustworthy applications, enhancing users’ control over their personal data, increasing in-app subscriptions transparency and preventing deceptive applications and media including the use of “deepfakes”: Manipulated Media: Google has […]