CDP Institute

A new rule for companies that transfer personal U.S. data to “countries of concern” such as Russia and China will go into effect on April 8.  Issued by the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and finalized on January 8, the rule prohibits the transfer of some data and sets conditions to govern transfers of other information.  It includes commercial transactions that are not governed by other transfer restrictions. While the new regime in Washington has frozen many regulations developed by its predecessor, there is no indication... Read More >

US Consumer groups, federal employees, unions and attorneys general have been filing lawsuits to protect private data being accessed in mass quantities by Elon Musk’s DOGE group. Most cite the Privacy Act of 1974, which prohibits release of federal records without consent, and some do in conjunction with other laws, including, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Federal Information Security Management Act, and the Education Department privacy statute. Requests range from stopping access to requiring deletion of data already obtained.

Lawmakers in Maryland have proposed a new bill, the Maryland Data Privacy Act, to protect residents’ data by prohibiting police and local officials from sharing personal data or granting access to databases without a state or federal warrant.

Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, in 2024 which placed responsibility for controlling children’s access to social media on providers. However, a recent study of more than 1,500 children there conducted by eSafety, indicates they can easily bypass the controls with 80% of those surveyed who were aged 8 to 12 used one or more of the eight social media services in 2024 – despite policies prohibiting users under 13.

As a result, the company will no longer provide its UK users its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) protection and UK user files will be accessible to Apple and shareable with law enforcement.