On December 28, 2022, the Spanish Data Protection Authority (“AEPD”) published a statement on the interplay between its recently approved Spanish code of conduct for the pharmaceutical industry and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ (“EFPIA”) proposal for
Global Policy Watch
Key Public Policy Developments Around the World
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FARA Reform Legislative Activity Heats Up
There is near universal agreement among policymakers, lawyers, and lobbyists that the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) is deeply in need of legislative reforms to update the statute and bring it in line with modern practices. Agreeing on specific amendments,…
November 2022 Developments Under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order
This is the nineteenth in a series of Covington blogs on implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”). The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions…
Congress Offers Greater Hope for Defense Contractors Battling Inflation; Actual Relief Is Still Not Clear
As part of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), Congress has given the Department of Defense authority to pay defense contractors for increased costs due to inflation. Section 822 of the NDAA amends Public Law 85-804 (50 U.S.C. 1431)…
COP27: Loss and Damage COP
Perhaps the best way of summarizing COP27 was that, in the end, it boiled down to solving a tension between competing views of global priorities in addressing climate change. The Developed World was primarily focused on improving mitigation (emissions reduction…
Congressional Investigations in the 118th Congress
Congressional investigations thrive in divided government. With a constrained ability to advance policy through legislation, Members are more likely to turn to investigations as a means of making headlines and affecting private sector practices.
The Democratic Senate majority and the…
Responsibly Audited AI and the ESG/AI Nexus
Companies have increasingly leveraged artificial intelligence (“AI”) to facilitate decisions in the extension of credit and financial lending as well as hiring decisions. AI tools have the potential to produce efficiencies in processes but have also recently faced scrutiny for…
Avoiding Layoffs In an Uncertain Economy
As interest rates rise and the threat of a recession looms, many employers are beginning to struggle with balancing the cost of maintaining their workforce with an expected decrease in profits. The frequent result of such a balancing act is…
The 11th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights: Key Takeaways for Business
The focus of this year’s UN Forum on Business and Human Rights was “putting rights holders at the centre” of business’ human rights due diligence efforts. In this post, ahead of Human Rights Day, we distill the important takeaways for…
Google Wins Final Dismissal In “Android Lockbox” Putative Class Action
The Northern District of California recently dismissed with prejudice a putative class action lawsuit against Google, which alleged that the company used a secret program called “Android Lockbox” to spy on Android smartphone users. See Order Granting Motion to Dismiss, Hammerling v.…