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German inquiry is launched into ChatGPT’s GDPR compliance
Following other EU member states like Italy, German regulators are now also questioning ChatGPT’s legality, as they have launched an inquiry into its compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, the regulators “want to know if a data protection impact assessment has been carried out and if the data protection risks are under control.”. The main concern of the German regulators regards the data used to train ChatGPT, as users are not given the possibility to opt out of having their data included. German regulators have expressed that they expect OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to respond to the inquiry by June 11th at the latest.
Government
UK adopts new sanctions against Russia
The UK has adopted new sanctions against Russia, which expand on pre-existing sanctions and which came into force on the 21st of April 2023. The sanctions form a significant expansion of the restrictions on the import and acquisition of revenue-generating goods which originate in or are consigned from Russia.
US Treasury aims to curb Bank’s de-risking
The practice of banks denying service to customers with a perceived heightened risk of engaging in illegal activities, known as “de-risking,” is facing scrutiny by the US Treasury as it might deny banking services to law-abiding citizens. According to the Treasury, denial of banking services can hurt certain communities and pose a national security risk by driving certain financial activities out of the regulated banking system.
US firms might face EU climate laws unless SEC comes up with alternatives
The European Union is planning to require thousands of US firms to extensively disclose the details of how their operations affect the climate unless the Securities and Exchange Commission passes rules that the EU regards as equal to its own. The SEC has been working on new rules for over a year requiring publicly traded companies to report their emissions and business risks associated with climate change. The rules by the EU and the SEC differ in a couple of ways, one is the motivation for writing them, whereas the EU rules are part of a broad effort to fight climate change, the SEC rules are intended to help US investors get the right information. The last sticking point is whether the SEC includes scope 3 disclosure in its rules, an issue that has led to division in the US, but that might well lead the EU to reject the SEC rules if it isn’t included.
Business
Tobacco company BAT pleads guilty to violation of North Korea Sanctions
BAT, the UK-based manufacturer of Lucky Strikes has pled guilty to violating US sanctions on North Korea, as the company conducted what was described as “a brazen scheme” by the US justice department by routing its products through a third party in Singapore. As a result, the company agreed to pay a fine of more than USD 635 million, the highest penalty ever levied for a violation of US sanctions on North Korea. BAT’s CEO Jack Bowles state “We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us.”
Large social media firms face deadline to comply with the EU’s tough new content law
The European Union is pioneering the world’s furthest reaching digital-content law that will come into effect by late August. The Digital Services Act, as the new law is called, will hold large platforms accountable for the content on their platforms, the DSA will require companies to conduct regular assessments to determine whether their platforms pose possible risks to individuals or pillars of civic life, such as electoral participation or free expression. Now major tech firms such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and TikTok have only 4 months left to get their compliance with the DSA in order, or else risk fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenue and even a potential block of the platform’s services.