newtech.law - legal aspects of new technologies

At the end of 2017, we wrote about the possibility of using artificial intelligence in the financial services sector. We pointed out that AI algorithms can be used by the financial industry to automate customer contacts and issue initial credit decisions. The use of algorithms by government bodies seemed to be less important at the time. However, this issue ignited much controversy at the end of 2018 due to a ruling by the Province Administrative Court in Warsaw on the freezing of a bank account under a recently introduced section of the Tax Ordinance, which also introduced the digital clearinghouse STIR into the Polish legal system.

Apart from potentially very high administrative penalties that national data protection authorities may impose on violators of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (as has already occurred, for example, in France), under the GDPR any person who has suffered material or non-material damage has the right to obtain compensation from the controller or processor of his personal data for the damage suffered. This is an instrument that has attracted much less attention than administrative sanctions, but it may have very serious financial consequences.

Just before the most intensive holiday online sales period, businesses need to implement changes ensuring customers have equal access to goods and services regardless of their nationality, place of residence or place of business. From 3 December 2018, the Geo-blocking Regulation (2018/302) applies throughout the European Union.

We wrote about this proposal earlier (text only in Polish), but due to the commencement of the bans and changes to the adopted final regulation, we come back to the subject.

The discussion about the legal status of tokens and, in particular, whether and when a token is a security or other financial instrument, is still gaining momentum. There are more and more proposals around this discussion that resolve this issue at the outset, recognising that tokens are intended to become securities. These are so-called security tokens, and the issues are sometimes called security token offerings (STOs).

Last week, the Ministry of Digital Affairs announced that it has concluded an agreement with Facebook introducing a mechanism for Polish users to question a decision to delete content or a profile.

First instance, Facebook; second instance, contact point on NASK platform

Users around the world complain of arbitrary and unreasonable decisions to remove their content or Facebook profiles.

Until now, Facebook has made it possible to appeal against such a decision by filling in a form on its website. Facebook dealt with complaints but that did not always translate into a change of the original decision.

Thanks to the new agreement, after an unsuccessful appeal, a website user will be able to appeal again, this time via a specially created platform on the Research and Academic Computer Network (NASK) website, the so-called contact point.

Star Wars Battlefront II, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, FIFA 18: these are just a few examples of video games using loot boxes. They are becoming an increasingly common form of microtransaction introduced into video games by developers. But concerns are being raised that they can lead to addiction, particularly among young players. Gambling regulators in various countries are also beginning to take a close look at loot boxes. The Polish government, for one, has announced that it plans to study loot boxes and the related risks. Do loot boxes truly pose a threat requiring regulation?