At a glance.
- European Union considers new data governance bill.
- DPRK under pandemic and economic stress; increased cyber optempo may result.
- Westminster counts costs of 5G security.
EU considers a data governance bill.
Last week the European Commission proposed the Data Governance Act (DGA), which along with the Digital Services Act and other upcoming legislation aims to create a “single market for data” as part of the European Strategy for Data, Cooley reports. If approved by the EU Parliament and Council, DGA will most likely come into effect no sooner than 2023, and will establish the following:
- Data altruism, or circumstances under which not-for-profits can collect donated data to serve “the common good.”
- European Data Spaces, or avenues for firms to voluntarily swap industrial data for big data projects.
- Regulations for neutral data brokers.
- Guidelines for accessing an untapped wealth of public sector data currently locked down by IP, personal data, and confidentiality rules.
- A European Data Innovation Board responsible for consistency across member states.
The bill’s overarching goal is to nurture innovation and competition by boosting data sharing while maintaining data sovereignty. Cooley stresses that DGA won’t supersede the GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, Open Data Directive, or similar data protection rules. The Center for Data Innovation praises the spirit of the bill but worries about the impact of its localization requirements and public sector data fees on the “free flow of data, free trade, and open data.”
A North Korea under stress could ramp up cyber operations.
The Washington Post says Pyongyang's Great Successor and Dear Respected Kim Jong Un is behaving erratically under increasing stress from self-imposed economic isolation and the threat of coronavirus, according to unverified South Korean intelligence. Since sealing the Chinese border with a shoot-on-sight zone, prices have skyrocketed, regions caught smuggling have been put on lockdown, and two executions have reportedly taken place. Kim has rejected 110 thousand tons of Chinese rice aid, and prohibited fishing in waters he fears are infected.
The DPRK has also tried to hack companies working on Covid-19 treatments and vaccines. The worry is that cyber operations may intensify given their deniability and low barrier to entry relative to kinetic actions. A South Korean official commented that Kim is “venting his anger excessively and rolling out measures that lack common sense.”
London’s Huawei ban comes together with enforcement and funding measures.
The UK last week introduced the Telecommunications (Security) Bill, which Jurist explains would authorize additional government control over public electronic communications network and service providers and spell out provider security obligations, imposing fines of up to £10 million for violations. According to the Washington Examiner, Beijing has responded to London’s clampdown with the usual threats of economic reprisals. ZDNet says the play is pricey enough in its own right: Her Majesty’s Government has earmarked $333 million for investment in supply chain diversity. At present, Ericsson and Nokia appear to be the only viable alternatives to Chinese 5G vendors.