EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part one of “Cyber AI Chronicles” – written by lawyers and named by ChatGPT.  This series will highlight key legal, privacy, and technical issues associated with the continued development, regulation, and application of artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence is not a new concept or endeavor. In October 1950, Alan Turing published “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” proposing the question: Can machines think? Since then, the concept has been studied at length, with an immediately recognizable example being IBM Watson, which memorably defeated Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in 2011. AI has been captured and fictionalized in movies, video games, and books. Even if we are not aware of it, AI underlies many technical tools that we use every day.

The national impact of ransomware is expanding. Following a dip in the recorded number of ransomware attacks for 2022, there have been multiple nationwide events with devastating effect in 2023.  Given the damage across private and public enterprises, the federal government has sought to provide additional information and resources to assist those who are preparing to defend against an attack or for businesses who have already experienced a ransomware attack.

On Friday, the Sacramento Superior Court issued a ruling delaying the enforcement of recently enacted California Privacy Rights Act regulations until March 2024. The CPRA, which amended the California Consumer Privacy Act, directs the California Privacy Protection Agency to promulgate regulations that further explain and detail the requirements of the CPRA. The agency was supposed to issue regulations by July 1, 2022, with an enforcement date of July 1, 2023. However, the agency did not issue those regulations until March 24, 2023.

Oregon will soon join Iowa, Indiana, Florida, Montana, Texas, and Tennessee in passing a comprehensive data privacy law. On June 25, the Oregon legislature passed the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act. The OCPA has moved to the desk of Gov. Tina Kotek (D), who is expected to sign it into law. Assuming she does, the law will take effect on July 1, 2024.

The European Court of Justice has issued two important decisions interpreting the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. One addresses the right to compensation for GDPR violations, and the other addresses the scope of an individual’s right of access when his or her data has been provided by a controller to other recipients. Each decision is discussed below.

This year has so far proven to be quite active in terms of state privacy legislation. In 2022, California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut were the five states with consumer privacy laws on the books, all set to take effect in 2023. Then, earlier this year, Iowa, Indiana, and Tennessee enacted their own respective comprehensive privacy laws. Iowa’s and Tennessee’s laws will take effect in 2025, and Indiana’s law will take effect in 2026.

On Thursday, May 11, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed into law the Tennessee Information Protection Act. The new TIPA follows the recent enactment of data privacy laws in Iowa and Indiana. The other states with data privacy laws are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia.

On the heels of the unanimous passage of Iowa’s Act Relating to Consumer Data Protection on March 28, Indiana’s Consumer Data Protection Act was passed by the state legislature on April 13 and has been signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb (R).

Plaintiffs are becoming increasingly creative in their attempts to seek relief involving alleged privacy violations resulting from their online activity. This includes raising allegations of violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act, a federal law enacted in 1988 largely in response to privacy concerns surrounding businesses’ use of individuals’ video tape rental histories. 

It’s only April, but 2023 has already been a big year for new and evolving data privacy legislation. In January, the California Privacy Rights Act took effect, expanding and clarifying the rights and obligations within the California Consumer Privacy Act. In addition, exceptions for business-to-business and employee and applicant data expired, ushering in new requirements and broadening the reach of the California laws. At the same time, the second major state data privacy law – the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act – took full effect.