Here’s your top 3

#1: AI in financial services

We’ve seen a recent flurry of activity from the UK’s financial regulators in relation to AI.

The Financial Conduct Authority is seeking views until 31 January 2025 about current and future uses of AI in UK financial services, as well as the financial services regulatory framework. This ‘AI Input Zone’ is one component of the FCA’s AI Lab. The FCA will also host an AI Sprint on 29 and 30 January 2025, to help inform its regulatory approach to AI and how it can create the right environment for growth and innovation.

In related news, the FCA and Bank of England published the results of a recent survey of AI and machine learning in UK financial services, and the Bank’s Deputy Governor (Financial Stability) gave a speech on AI and financial stability.

#2: Product safety and security

We talked in the previous edition of the round-up about the new Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. The government has now published its long-awaited response to the Product Safety Review and set out next steps. Over in the EU, the Revised Product Liability Directive and Cyber Resilience Act were both officially published and will apply from 9 December 2026 and 11 December 2027 respectively.

#3: AI in recruitment – compliance with data laws

In a recent news story, the Information Commissioner’s Office highlighted that AI is increasingly being used in the recruitment process to save time and money, helping to source potential candidates, summarise CVs and score applicants. The ICO issued a series of recommendations to AI developers and providers on the use of AI tools in recruitment and shared key questions organisations should ask when procuring AI tools to help with their employee recruitment.

More legal and regulatory developments…

• The Data (Use and Access) Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords. Committee stage, which involves line by line examination of the Bill, is scheduled to start on 3 December.
• Consumer group Which? launched a £3 billion action against Apple over alleged competition law breaches in relation to its iCloud service.
• The ICO is calling on organisations to share personal information responsibly to protect their customers from scams and fraud, saying that data protection is not an excuse.
• The ICO and government published a Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) cost-benefit awareness tool to help organisations understand and assess the costs and benefits associated with adopting a variety of PETs.
• The ICO also released a new report on genomics, highlighting the need for a privacy-by-design approach that supports innovation whilst safeguarding privacy.
• New rules to strengthen the operational resilience of the UK’s financial sector come into effect on 1 January 2025.
• The FCA published a blog post on its approach to cryptoasset regulation and an accompanying policy roadmap to 2026.
• The European Commission’s AI Office is consulting until 11 December 2024 on guidelines relating to prohibited AI practices and the definition of ‘AI system’ under the EU AI Act. The Commission recently published the first draft of a code of practice on general-purpose AI models.
• The European Commission fined Meta €798 million for breaching EU competition law rules in relation to its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace.

…and in other news

• The government is consulting until 10 February 2025 on proposals to crack down on subscription traps.
• The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development published a report on prospective AI benefits, risks and policy imperatives. The report is informed by insights from the OECD’s Expert Group on AI Futures.
• The government launched the second round of the Manchester Prize, a competition looking for AI innovations to power the UK’s clean energy future.
• The government is consulting until 29 January 2025 on the design, content and use of a new AI Management Essentials tool, a self-assessment tool that aims to help organisations assess and implement responsible AI management systems and processes.
• The government published a report surveying the state of the UK AI assurance market and setting out how government will drive its future growth.
• The government also published The Model for Responsible Innovation, a practical tool to help teams across the public sector and beyond to innovate responsibly with data and AI.
• The National Cyber Security Centre and its international partners shared a list of the top 15 routinely exploited vulnerabilities of 2023.
• We’ve also seen the NCSC publish guidance for brands to help advertising partners counter malvertising, and guidance on ransomware resistant backups.
• The Association of British Insurers and Lloyd’s of London published guidance for (re)insurers on how to approach defining a major cyber event.
• And finally, the BBC reported on the government’s commitment to provide £20 million in funding for the Golden Valley Development in Cheltenham, which aims to establish the town as the UK’s cyber capital.

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