UK law Ofcom issues guidance on mandatory age checks for pornographic content services Last week we wrote about Ofcom’s new guidance on protecting children under the Online Safety Act 2023. Among other things, it requires age assurance requirements for online services allowing pornographic content. From 25 July 2025, affected services must implement ‘highly effective age…
In two common law nations where regulation intersects with digital innovation, and with relatively small populations, Australia and New Zealand offer distinct yet complementary perspectives on technology regulation and privacy law. How do their legal systems address issues of safety in the digital age, privacy rights, and the interests of Indigenous communities? And in what…
Ofcom has published its final guidance on protecting children under the Online Safety Act 2023. This follows consultation, including with children. The guidance includes more than 40 measures for tech firms to meet their duties under the Online Safety Act. These will apply to sites and apps used by UK children in areas such as…
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The European Commission has fined Meta €200 million for breaching the Digital Markets Act. Under the Digital Markets Act, gatekeepers must seek users’ consent for combining their personal data between services. Those users who do not consent must have access to a less personalised but equivalent alternative. In November 2023, Meta introduced a binary “Consent…
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UK law Courts and Tribunals Judiciary publishes updated AI guidance and introduces Copilot Chat for judges The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary has published updated guidance to help judicial office holders to use AI. It updates and replaces the guidance document issued in December 2023. It sets out key risks and issues associated with using AI…
The European Commission has announced that it has decided to close its investigation into Apple’s user choice obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In less good news for Apple, it has also decided that Apple’s steering rules breach the DMA and fined it 500 million euros. It has also made a preliminary ruling regarding…
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Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether the provider of an online suicide forum has failed to comply with its duties under the Online Safety Act 2023. This is the first investigation opened into an individual online service provider under the OSA. Specifically, Ofcom is investigating whether this provider has failed to: Due to its…
UK law Electronic Communications (Networks and Services) (Designated Vendor Directions) (Penalties) Order 2025 The Electronic Communications (Networks and Services) (Designated Vendor Directions) (Penalties) Order 2025 SI 2025/443 has been made. It makes consequential amendments to the Electronic Communications (Networks and Services) (Penalties) (Rules for Calculation of Turnover) Order 2003, SI 2003/2712 which in summary covers…
The ICO’s Assurance department has recently approached organisations in the financial services sector to review how they process information. The review looked at how they use children’s data and how they use AI and automated decision making. The ICO also wanted to gather views on experiences of implementing good data protection practice, compliance challenges, competing…
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The Information Commissioner’s Office has published guidance about anonymisation and pseudonymisation techniques, aimed at helping organisations handle personal data in compliance with data protection laws. Anonymisation is the process of representing data in such a way that individuals are not identifiable. Once data is anonymised, it falls outside the scope of data protection laws. Pseudonymisation…