With the very real prospect of lawmakers and regulators taking a firm stance on how to control the genie that tech has unleashed, lawmakers and policymakers globally will unleash on big tech what is coined as techlash (technology+backlash) resulting in some heavy policy decisions or regulations that will cause legal disruptions in the tech industry
McMillan dictionary defines techlash as the strong reaction against the major technology companies, as a result of concerns about their power, users’ privacy, the possibility of political manipulation, etc.
This list is intended as a guideline for technology leaders on brining awareness and perhaps taking advantage of the impeding legal predicaments up ahead in 2020. Trends are sampled from Access Partnership, a public policy consultancy in the UK, which has released their second annual Top 10 list of the public policy trends tech leaders should be paying attention to.
AI regulation is coming
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she would
propose artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in her first 100 days of
taking office. This makes February the month to watch for what this
will entail.
The US also is looking into AI regulation but has not set a timetable.
These regulations may include efforts to rein in AI-generated content
like deepfakes and tighter technology export controls.
The EU’s digital services act builds on GDPR
The newly-seated European Commission is looking to hold ‘digital
companies’ more accountable for what their users do. While the DSA is
unlikely to come to pass in 2020, it is something all tech companies
need to watch.
Access Partnership calls it the ‘defining digital regulation of the
decade, as it tackles subjects such as the rights of consumers,
censorship, the free market, and the responsibility of online
platforms’.
EU protectionism takes root
The Europeans are concerned they have become overly reliant on
technology developed by other nations. As such, they are working to
promote home-grown solutions to counter this perceived threat and to
bolster the European tech industry.
According to Access Partnership they will take a three-pronged approach:
Regulating ‘big tech’ in order to control it; reassessing the EU’s
reliance on non-EU developed tech for critical services; and greater
control over personal data (digital sovereignty).
A possible workaround for Sri Lankan companies on this new wave of
digital sovereignty and data protectionism is to setup virtual companies
taking advantage of Estonian Digital Citizenship and corporate
citizenship initiatives.
Data sharing regulation gains traction
Digital platforms collect and share mountains of data about their
customers in order to do things like conduct targeted advertising based
on the websites they have recently visited. Combined with the massive
personal data breaches of the past few years, this has pushed the EU and
other nations to regulate how data is shared.
The EU Commission is working on its ePrivacy Regulation. Australia will
be implementing its Consumer Data Right rules in July 2020. Japan has
‘information banks’ designed to encourage data sharing. Singapore
launched its ‘Trusted Data Sharing Framework’ in 2019. Expectation is
that more countries to follow suit.
5G security takes centre stage
As 5G gets ready for widespread global adoption, the massive amounts
of sensitive, critical data (think self-driving cars talking to one
another) expect to traverse these networks will require them to be free
from hacking.
This increased need for security will spur regulators, telecoms, mobile
operators, and governments to begin the process of exploring the various
ways they deploy to enhance network security.
IoT gets increased attention
Given the industry’s poor track record of device-level security, IoT
device regulation is already on the radar of many governments and
regulators.
California’s IoT regulation, SB-327, regarding the security of connected
devices went into effect on 1 January of this year; the US Senate has
introduced the Federal IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Bill; the European
Electronic Communications Code may impact the rules regarding licensing,
portability, and quality of services of IoT devices; and Brazil has
launched its National IoT Plan.
Given the proliferation of use cases and wide-spread adoption of these
emerging technologies, expect more IoT regulation to come.
Software supply chain security SBOM
Look for more highly-regulated industries to begin demanding a software bill of materials (SBOM) in 2020.
With so much of the world running on open source software that is often
not secure, regulators in the US are encouraging the big companies that
do business with the federal government to track the different software
elements of the platforms, systems, and applications they deploy.
Spectrum sharing gets a fresh look
With the demand for ever-more radio spectrum growing yearly,
regulators in the US are looking more favourably on the idea of spectrum
sharing, where the white spaces, once kept in place to keep TV signals
from interfering with each other, are pressed into service.
According to the US National Institutes of Standards and Technology
(NIST), “[s]pectrum sharing is necessary because growing demand is
crowding the airwaves. Smartphones, the Internet of Things, military and
public safety radios, wearable devices, smart vehicles, and countless
other devices all depend on the same wireless bands of the
electromagnetic spectrum to share data, voice and images.”
The “greening” of ICT
Responsible for much of the CO2 emitted yearly, the Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) industry is getting fresh scrutiny from
the International Technology Union (ITU).
According to Access Partnership, given the increased usage and
environmental impact of ICT technologies, “[t]he ITU’s secretary-general
has made it clear that low carbon and a more circular economy are of
the highest priority, and so we can expect to see these issues form a
key trend in 2020.”
Along with its new environmental agenda outlines at the 2019 COP25
conference in Madrid, the ITU plans to work with the ICT industry, and
regulators around the world to create a “low carbon and a more circular
economy.”
US privacy law take shape
Although unlikely to pass this year, the US Congress is finally
taking seriously the idea of national privacy law. Spurred to action by
California’s Consumer Privacy Act, which goes into effect in July 2020,
draft legislation—the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act and US Consumer
Data Privacy Act—are before the Senate Commerce Committee the House
Energy and Commerce Committee.
Although there is disagreement among Republican and Democratic
approaches, both sides appear to favour some sort of action. The early
part of 2020 should give some indication of which way these legislative
winds will blow.
Trends in Sri Lanka for 2020
Sri Lanka in 2016 became the first South Asian country to sign the
‘European Convention on Cyber Crime,’ also known as the ‘Budapest
Convention,’ despite these strides made, Sri Lanka is yet to update some
of its own polices and legislations including the aging ‘Computer
Crimes Act No. 24 of 2007’ to reflect more modern cybercrimes such as
Ransomware and cross-border Cyber Attacks.
Although heavily touted by the previous regime as being ready to be
passed in Parliament in 2019, we are yet to see legislation passed for
in the form of the Cybersecurity Bill and Data Protection Bill.
Additionally under the auspices of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ICTA in
2020 will announce its National Digital Policy.
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