Tom Evans

Subscribe to Tom Evans's Posts

In the last month, Ofcom, the regulator tasked with enforcing the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA), has published guidance enacting requirements under the OSA to carry out illegal harms risk assessments and children’s access assessments. Providers of in-scope services must document an illegal harms risk assessment by March 16, 2025, and a children’s access assessment by April 16, 2025. This alert outlines the steps that in-scope services must take to prepare for these deadlines. For more information on the OSA and its phased implementation, refer to our previous blog post here. Continue Reading The UK’s Online Safety Regime Is Coming into Force: Steps to Take Now

Legislators and regulators across the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) are intensifying efforts to enhance the protection of minors online, responding to growing concerns about children’s safety in the digital space. Recent regulations (including the EU Digital Services Act) and guidance impose increasingly strict obligations for providers to restrict access to harmful content for children.Continue Reading Increased Focus on the Protection of Minors and Age Verification in the EU and the UK

The UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) is a landmark law that will require companies to make online services “safe by design” for all individuals, with a particularly high standard of protection required for children. The OSA was enacted in 2023, and its obligations will come into force in phases throughout 2025 and 2026. This blog post explains how the law will be brought into force, and what companies can do to prepare.Continue Reading Preparing for the UK’s New Online Safety Regime: Timeline and Key Phases

In October 2024, the UK government introduced the Data (Use and Access) Bill (the Data Bill) to Parliament. The Data Bill represents a third attempt by UK ministers to bring about reforms to the UK’s data protection and ePrivacy regimes. If enacted, the Data Bill will introduce changes to the existing regime, including by reducing restrictions on automated decision-making and enhancing powers for the UK’s privacy regulator. It will also lay the groundwork for new “Smart Data” schemes, which will in future require companies operating in certain industries to share data with authorized and regulated third parties.Continue Reading UK Brings Forward Bill to Reform UK Privacy Laws

In recent months, politicians and regulators across a number of jurisdictions have called on operators of online platforms to take seriously their legal obligations to promote a safe online environment. The safety of children online has continued to dominate this conversation, with a recent joint UK-U.S. statement (Statement) declaring that online platforms should “go further and faster in their efforts to protect children.”

This alert sets out the regulatory focus areas of the European Commission (EC), the Irish Coimisiún na Meán (CNAM), and the UK’s online safety regulator Ofcom.Continue Reading Regulators in Europe Signal Increased Scrutiny of Online Platforms

On April 8, 2024, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) published recommendations on the development phase of artificial intelligence (AI) systems1 (Recommendations). They are the first set of recommendations designed to guide the various players in the AI ecosystem on how to apply the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to the development of AI systems. The Recommendations are relevant to providers and users of AI systems who process personal data as part of the development of such systems, including fine-tuning already-existing AI systems.Continue Reading French Data Protection Authority Publishes Recommendations on the Development of AI Systems: Seven Takeaways

On April 3, 2024, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released a statement setting out its priorities for protecting children’s privacy online. The priorities reflect the ICO’s strategy for the next phase of implementing its Children’s code of practice (also known as the “AADC”) and signal a focus by the regulator on the operations of social media and video-sharing platforms (platforms). The ICO will look at platforms’ default settings for children’s profiles, recommender systems and how they obtain consent to the processing of children’s data. The statement also indicates that the ICO will conduct audits of EdTech providers to identify privacy risks and potential noncompliance with applicable legislation.Continue Reading UK Privacy Regulator Details Next Stages of Its Strategy to Protect Children Online