Latest Worldwide Developments on Personal Data

Google settles $190M lawsuit around data collection practices.

Google has agreed to pay USD190 million to private law firms and the Texas attorney general's office to settle claims it improperly collected biometric information without consent, tracked users' locations despite disabled settings and misled users about Incognito mode's privacy protections, Reuters reports. Google did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement and said in a statement it has changed many of its policies since the complaint was lodged. The company may also face additional financial charges related to a class-action lawsuit concerning its practices of collecting data from mobile users' devices.

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CNIL offers summary of GDPR's economic impact event.

In May, France's data protection authority, hosted an event highlighting the economic implications of the EU General Data Protection Regulation with the Directorate General of the Treasury. The event featured regulators and academics with a focus on the economic impacts of the GDPR and its effect on innovation and competition. The CNIL has now published a summary of the key insights and discussions from the event.

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ICO seeks feedback on its investigation process guidance.

The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office is seeking public feedback on its new guidance detailing how it carries out investigations and takes action under the U.K. General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. The guidance is primarily for those who process personal data and covers how the agency carries out probes, including a detailed description of the different stages of investigations. The public comment period began 31 Oct. and will end 23 Jan. 2026.

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Norway explores encryption protections for banking industry.

Norway is looking at Mobai's homomorphic encryption as a way to protect biometric information used in the country's banking infrastructure, Biometric Update reports. The method allows computations to be performed without decrypting the data, allowing banks to check identities during online sessions using information from national identity documents. Norway is exploring the method because of a rise in financial fraud schemes, which have been supercharged with the advent of AI.

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NOYB files complaint against Clearview AI.

Privacy rights group NOYB said it is suing the facial-recognition company Clearview AI for failing to respond to EU data protection authorities' enforcement efforts. The group argued several EU authorities have issued bans against the company and imposed fines, but have yet to come up with a way to force Clearview to comply with them, resulting in no changes. The complaint, filed in Austria, asks authorities to pursue EU-level action against Clearview under the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

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FTC urged to prevent Meta from targeting ads based on chatbot data.

Advocacy groups, including the Electronic Information Privacy Center and the Center for Digital Democracy, are urging the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to prevent Meta from serving users with targeted advertisements based on data collected by the company's AI chatbot, MediaPost reports. In a letter to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, the groups said Meta must conduct privacy and security risk assessments of the proposed practice and claimed "conversational data generated through AI chat interactions is substantially more sensitive than ordinary behavioral data, as it may reveal personal relationships, mental health concerns, political views, and other intimate information."

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Study: Video game studios allegedly gathering children's data illegally.

A study from the University of Ottawa, the Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill University found 139 privacy policies for video game studios are allegedly not compliant with Canada, Quebec or U.S. online children's safety laws, Newsweek reports. The study argued video game companies are exploiting children's data such as location, behavior tracking and in-game communications. Researchers say the issue shows a need for more legislative action to protect children's privacy.

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US agencies support ban of home WiFi manufacturer, due to national security concerns.

Several U.S. agencies have supported a proposed ban on TP-Link Systems devices after a review of the company raised national security concerns due to its connection to China, The Washington Post reports. The ban was proposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, who claimed TP-Link Systems technology, who owns TP-Link Technologies assets in China, could provide China with U.S. citizens' sensitive data. The company said it "vigorously disputes any allegation that its products present national security risks to the United States. TP-Link is a U.S. company committed to supplying high-quality and secure products to the U.S. market and beyond."

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Humanoid robot uses human-controlled tech for housekeeping.

The Wall Street Journal reports on 1X Technologies' human-controlled robot, Neo, which aims to complete housework. The one catch, however, is the homeowner's privacy. "For now," the report states, "you'll need to be cool with a company representative potentially peering through the robot's camera eyes to get chores done." X Technologies CEO Bernt Børnich said, "It's not for everyone. ... If you buy this product, it is because you're OK with that social contract. If we don't have your data, we can't make the product better."

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CNIL digs into consumer attitudes about 'pay or consent'.

France's data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, found between 25-48% of people are willing to pay for subscription services without targeted advertising, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Around 51% of respondents said they consider data protection to be an important factor when considering a service, ranking behind price and quality of service. The CNIL said the results demonstrated that people care enough about their privacy to pay more for a service that does not target them.

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IAPP Weekly News 27.10.2025 - 31.10.2025