British Cyber Security Center Urges Lawyers to Advise Against Paying Ransomware

In a letter addressed to legal professionals the British National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) explained that although the legal framework in the UK does not outright prohibit paying ransomware, the British government does not endorse or condone it either, and payers and the legal advisers advising them on this matter should be mindful of the possibility that certain sanctions regimes ...

Israeli Consumer Protection Authority Says Platforms Are Liable for Illegal Ads to Minors

According to an opinion by the Israeli Consumer Protection Authority, online platforms whose target audience includes minors and who allow other businesses to advertise on their platform, are responsible to ensure that the content of those ads is not prohibited for minors, regardless of the manner or means of advertisement. The opinion was filed as part of a class action ...

Israeli Supreme Court Dismisses Petitions Against the National Biometric Database

The Israeli High Court of Justice dismissed the petitions filed against the Israeli biometric database law (officially called The Inclusion of Biometric Identification Measures and Biometric Identification Data in Identification Documents and a Database Law, 5770-2009). Since 2017, the law requires citizens seeking to issue identification documents (passports and IDs), to provide their facial images (and optionally, thumbprints), to be ...

Israeli Consumers Can Register to the “Do Not Call Me” Registry from November

Israeli consumers will be able to register their phone numbers in the national “do not call me” registry starting November 1, 2022. Starting January 1, 2023, all Israeli companies must not directly contact, for marketing purposes, consumers whose numbers are registered in the database.

According to the new regulations, companies seeking to directly contact consumers with a marketing offer must ...

Google Settles for $90 Million over Play Store Fees

Google agreed to pay $90 million to settle a legal dispute with app developers who alleged that Google has abused its power to impose legal and technical barriers on the app ecosystem, charged app developers fees of up to 30% of in-app purchases, and forced them to only use Google’s billing system. The settlement would resolve a class action suit ...

California: New Consumer Privacy Regulations

The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) published for public comment draft regulations implementing the reform in the state’s privacy law, given the overhaul of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) expected to take effect in January 2023.

The new regulations mainly focus on adapting the existing regulations (enacted under the CCPA) to the ...

‘Legal Apartheid’ or ‘Necessary Evil’? Israel is Considering Elevated Protection of EU Personal Data

The Israeli Ministry of Justice has begun drafting new data protection regulations that will establish a legal framework whereby personal data originating from the European Union will be subject to a higher level of data protection than any other data collected or processed in Israel.

The Ministry’s motive for this initiative is the European Commission’s ongoing reevaluation of Israel’s 2011 ...

Israel Comprehensively Reforms Licensing of Communication Services

The Knesset, the Israeli legislature, voted for the final approval of an amendment to the Communications Law (Telecom and Broadcasts), 5742-1982, repealing the need for most telecommunications service providers to obtain a specific telecom license through a complicated and bureaucratic procedure previously required. The amendment becomes effective on October 2, 2022.

Before the amendment, anyone desiring to provide telecommunications services ...