Legislative Privacy Predictions in 2023
Kennedy Sutherland’s privacy predictions for 2023 continue with a series of legislative analyses:
Blockchain Rules Will Emerge
On January 9, a group of 28 Blockchain technology companies released an open letter to U.S. legislators requesting they protect citizens’ safety, right to self-determination, freedom of press, and “other rights that compose the core of democracy.”
The letter asserts that “U.S. software developers [are] being chilled by clumsy, misguided legislative and regulatory actions[,]” and that a failure to adequately protect the privacy of American citizens would be a win for cybercriminals and an abandonment of “the human right to privacy and the US constitution.”
The letter specifically requested legislators protect builders of privacy protection software, champion privacy protections like end-to-end encryption, crack down on government surveillance, and pass federal privacy legislation.
More International Legislation
There are several legislative efforts being proposed internationally. According to JD Supra, the Amendment No. 14 to the Israeli Privacy Protection Law was proposed in January 2022 to bring the country’s privacy efforts in line with the European legislative framework and other legislative efforts being advanced in the western world. Likewise, the Israeli Ministry of Justice published a Draft Protection of Privacy Regulations that “prescribe specific obligations imposed on organizations that transfer personal information from the European Economic Area, in addition to the obligations prescribed under the Privacy Protection Law in Israel.” According to this article from Forbes, India is also planning to discuss passing privacy legislation in early 2023 at a federal level.
However, authoritarian countries reportedly “have quite the opposite stance regarding their citizens' data.” According to Forbes, it is expected that “government-sponsored surveillance will continue to increase,” because the Global Democracy Index is at an all-time low.
The Metaverse Will be Regulated
As the virtual reality industry continues to receive interest and investment, we expect that the metaverse may become a topic of interest for federal legislators. Of primary concern is the privacy of children, which has already been a topic of concern in the U.S. in 2022.
This article by Broad and Breakfast addresses many of the topics of concern for industry participants surrounding child privacy with the use of virtual reality. According to a statement by Leeza Garber, a cybersecurity and privacy attorney, there is a “staggering” amount of data that is collected through the metaverse technology.
Additionally, Garber highlighted the concerns of cyberbullying, harassment, and assault that may result from the technological advancements that are coupled with virtual reality where legislative efforts have been less proactive.