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 […]

The FTC Published Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms

12/04/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC“) has released its guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (“AI“) and algorithms. The guidelines emphasize the potential benefits of AI on welfare and productivity, but also refers to the risks that may occur alongside it such as unfair and discriminating decisions. In […]

Changes to Chrome Extensions and Ads Policies

24/05/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight New Updates to Chrome Policies to Restrict Some Extensions and Ads Two policy changes in Google Chrome, coming into force in August this year, are about to significantly affect many advertisers, publishers and extension developers in the Adtech industry. Google Updates its Spam Policy to Keep Spam off […]

Green Lantern and Discount Capital are entering into the green market.

Our clients, Green Lantern and Discount Capital signed an agreement to under which Green Lantern purchased approx. 33.5% and Discount Capital 16.5% of Marina Galil Group’s shares for an aggregated amount of approx. ILS 150,000,000. Marina Galil Group, through its subsidiaries, is a prominent supplier of mushrooms and the manufacturer of compost. Recently, the company […]

The Climate Change Challenge

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. Recent global developments indicate strong […]

New Guidance on Scraping of Publicly Available Personal Data Published by French Privacy Regulator

05/05/2020 Technology & eCommerce Regulation in the Spotlight The French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) published new guidance on the scraping and extraction of personal data from publicly available databases and web pages using automated tools, and the reusing of such data for direct marketing purposes. The guidance was issued after several complaints concerning such practices were […]

FRONTIER TECH | SPECIAL DIGITAL EDITION

We are proud to announce that our partner and head of Japan practice, Gilad Majerowicz, will speak at the Cybertech Tokyo 2020 – in a special digital edition of the Frontier Tech summit. The summit will discuss issues such as Quantum Computing, Space 2.0, The future of AI and more. Please join us on 15.12.20 at 23:00. Register […]

Accelerate Depreciation Regulations – Approved

Dear Friends, clients and colleagues, Following our August update regarding the publication of draft accelerated depreciation regulations to public comments, we are happy to update that the Income Tax Regulations (Accelerated Depreciation During the Coronavirus Period) (Temporary Provision), 5780-2020 (the “Accelerated Depreciation Regulations”) have been approved by the Minister of Finance on November 10, 2020. […]

The Ministry of Finance is signaling that it is ready to regulate broker-dealers in Israel.

Unlike the trend in other countries, in Israel, broker-dealer activity has been unregulated for many years. Our partner, Liat Maidler, and associate Zac Rechtschaffen, from our Capital Markets and Securities practice, explain to Calcalist, why this move is long overdue and what key principles should be taken into consideration. For the full article >> click here

THE NEW NORMAL OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS | Practical Aspects of the New Reality

Opening and Overview of the Non-Profit Sector in Israel and the USA Orna Gradman (CPA), Audit Partner, BDO ISRAEL Matthew J. Becker (CPA), Audit Director, BDO USA   Digital Transformation – Achieving Greater Impact Kirstie Tiernan, Principal, Analytics and Automation, BDO Digital (USA)   Legal and regulatory updates Adv. John Hanna Bitar, Herzog   Doing […]

Significant Regulatory Developments Regarding Data Transfers under the GDPR

15/11/2020 Technology & eCommerce Regulation in the Spotlight The European Data Protection Board (“EDPB“) has published its recommendations on transfers of personal data from the EU to third countries under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The recommendations follow up on the ruling of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ“) on the “Schrems II” case […]

EGBA Published Code of Conduct on Data Protection in Online Gambling

17/06/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The European Gaming and Betting Association (“EGBA“) published a code of conduct for online gambling operators on data protection (“Code“) in accordance with Article 40 of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which encourages the adoption of sectoral codes of conduct. The Code establishes a dedicated sector-specific rules […]

Our client, Israeli startup Deci AI has raised $9.1M

Our client, Israeli startup Deci AI, has raised $9.1M this week, allowing it to continue developing its optimization solutions. Deci develops AI machines used to optimize AI models for other clients, saving them time and resources. The team, led by our partner, Yair Geva and his associates Miri Wang and Shadan Jabareen, is proud to work and support this great company. […]

European Court of Justice Rules Pre-ticked Consent is Invalid

12/11/2020 Technology & eCommerce Regulation in the Spotlight On 11 November 2020, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has published a judgement, in the case of Orange România SA (“Orange Romania“) v. Romania’s National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data (“ANSPDCP“). In this ruling, the ECJ held that where consent is provided in the form of […]

EDPB Issues Updated Guidelines on Consent

07/05/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) has published new guidelines on consent under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). These guidelines are updating and replacing the previous guidelines published in 2018 by the former EU data protection advisory regulator, the Article 29 Working Party, which were endorsed by […]

New Regulatory Guidance in the UK on Explaining AI-Based Decision-Making

07/06/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The Information Commissioner Officer (“ICO“) and The Alan Turing Institute recently published a detailed practical guidance for organizations on explaining the processes, services and decisions delivered or assisted by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), to the individuals affected by such decision making. The guidance was published in response to the […]

Final CCPA Regulations Submitted

03/06/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The California Attorney General has reported that the final text of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) Regulations have been submitted to the California Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”). The final text of the Regulations is substantially identical to the text of the third draft released last March. […]

EU Court, Regulators and Internet Platforms Raise the Bar for Using Cookies

The ECJ Ruled that only Active and Unambiguous Consent is Sufficient for the Use of Tracking Technologies 31/10/2019 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The European Court of Justice (“ECJ“) has issued its long awaited decision in the case of Planet49, a lottery website that required users to consent to the storage of cookies in […]

European Court of Justice Invalidates Privacy Shield but Re-approves Standard Contractual Clauses

16/07/2020 Technology & Regulation in the Spotlight The European Court of Justice (“CJEU“), has published a ruling which invalidates the EU-US personal data transfer scheme “Privacy Shield“, but reaffirms the transfer of data using the “standard contractual clauses” mechanism.   Background According to the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR“) the transfer of personal data […]