How to Sue the AI: European Commission’s Ruling

At the end of September, European Commission weakened the complications around the lawsuits concerning the damage made by AI and digital devices. According to the new ruling, the devices like drones, self-driving cars, voice assistants, and search engines, all fall under the same document.

AI devices are manufactured in a way that allows them to function without human help and execute the manual tasks laid out by their developers. As the devices cannot be programmed to prevent casualties that happen accidentally when their manual tasks are intervened, people could be damaged by the work.

Before the ruling, the fault of the AI device was hard to determine. For instance, social media platforms could easily avoid legal punishment by stating that the technology doesn’t have any responsibility over any damage given. Rather, people who post content and communicate through the platforms hold the blame. The same is with the manufacturers of self-driving cars or drones — the firms could avoid responsibility by stating that other people were controlling the device.

On 28 September, the European Commission presented a Proposal for a Directive on adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence. The Proposal stated that from now on people who were damaged by AI or digital devices could prove the harm by explaining its connection to the device and the nature of the damage without diving into the complications of the technology.

What does the ruling mean for businesses?

The Proposal will make businesses responsible for their devices even if they left their manufacturer and moved to someone else’s possession. The manufacturers should consider that if the item is damaged and outdated, measures have to be taken to repair it and prevent customers from incuring any damage from using it.

After the European Commission’s ruling, the lawsuits over the harm received from the AI devices would be more complicated for the businesses side. However, the customers receive more rights to prove their damages.

UK-US Data Access Agreement: Why Is It Important

Did you know that during the lawsuits concerning social media that are happening in the UK, British law enforcements had to do a real lot of paper work? The thing is that these platforms, as well as many other companies, are working under the US jurisdiction that protects the data shared through them. Prior to the UK-US Data Access Agreement, all crimes concerning sexual harassment and child abuse online had to be solved for a long period of time.

The time required to access data made many investigations go too slow and prevented law enforcement to make the right decisions. However, from 3 October 2022, when the Agreement comes into force, the “mutual legal assistance” between the two countries will be smoother, as the complaints will be considered in a timely manner.

DAA, published on 21 July 2022, makes sure that the telecommunication companies working under US law promptly respond to British law enforcement queries. Even though it doesn’t technically change all laws, as asking for permission and data access requests are still required, the agreement made the process so much quicker and time-considerate.

As the other processes regarding data sharing between US and UK legislations didn’t change, the exchange will still be overseen by the UK’s Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO).