CDP Institute

A federal judge invalidated California’s Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act, passed in 2024 to disallow deep fakes in political ads. Responding to a suit brought by Elon Musk’s X, the judge deferred to the Communications Decency Act’s Section 230, which since 1996 has provided tech platforms immunity from liability for user content, even if speech is deceptive or hateful. The Deepfake Deception Act was intended to block deceptive content, including falsely showing candidates saying things they hadn’t. Freedom!

The California jury in the Flo Health data class action ruled Meta violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act by collecting user private health data without consent and using it for ad tracking. Meta, which took the case to court in contrast with Google and others that opted to settle, plans to appeal the decision. This is considered a big loss for Meta and a decision that should serve as a warning to other companies on duty of care for sensitive health data.

New Zealand’s Biometric Processing Privacy Code will go into effect in November, though companies will have until next August to adapt to the rules. The law has four key obligations: effectiveness and proportionality, safeguards, transparency and safe limits.

While it’s important to choose friends wisely, ChatGPT, which is popular with teens, is looking untrustworthy and even dangerous to have as a friend. Associated Press, which published findings of a study done by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), reported ChatGPT prepared to tell adolescents very scary things, including how to get drunk or high, how to conceal eating disorders, and even worse – how to compose a suicide letter to parents. The advocacy group found little keeping ChatGPT from engaging with young people about harmful subjects and... Read More >