Dr. Axel Spies is a German attorney (Rechtsanwalt) in Washington, DC, and co-publisher of the German journals Multi-Media-Recht (MMR) and Zeitschrift für Datenschutz (ZD).
AI and Data Privacy
No good fit The nexus of the EU’s AI Act and the GDPR is a timely topic. The AI Act has not finally been adopted in Europe, while the General …
Tech Experts Are Calling for an AI Moratorium
But Is It a Solution? The Future of Life Institute has recently made waves with its Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter: “We call on all AI labs to …
AI Regulatory Sandboxes
Germany lagging behind others in Europe According to its Coalition Treaty, the German government wants to “promote […] Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, cybersecurity, distributed ledger technology (DLT), robotics and …
Germany and the EU Artificial Intelligence Act
The impact of the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) proposed by the European Commission, and currently debated at the European Parliament (EP), has been underestimated in the United States. With approximately …
Why Some German Companies Are Struggling with the Ukraine Sanctions
Until Russia’s military invasion in Ukraine, many German companies used to have close ties with Russian companies and institutions. Some of them stem from the time of the USSR when …
EU Data Governance Act Will Set New Standards for Public Data Access
Government institutions hold a wealth of information. Wouldn’t it be beneficial if everyone had fair access to this trove—for instance, for research to develop new vaccines or to operate driverless …
The Fight Against Money Laundering: Germany Expands its Transparency Register
In Germany and the United States, criminals often hide behind a complicated web of companies that does not reveal the individuals who control the entities. But there are also many …
The German Corona Summit Strategy Has Failed
The Germans are known for their word creations: Maskenverweigerer (anti-masker), Impfmuffel (anti-vaxxer), Coronaleugner (denying that the virus is a health risk), and the English/German tongue-twister Wellenbrecherlockdown (breaking a Corona wave …
No More Data from Germany? European Court of Justice Invalidates the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
On July 16, 2020, the “Grand Chamber” of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the …
Telehealth Is Here to Stay—In the United States and in Germany
Before COVID-19, telehealth (a patient seeing and talking to a doctor or other health care provider over the Internet) has long been viewed as an ancillary mode of medical treatment …
Corona Virus: Whatever Happens, the Crisis Has an Impact on Data Protection Rights
How will data protection rights fare in times of a crisis? What happens with the gathered information once the crisis is over? The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains …
Businesses Already Struggle with a Panoply of New Privacy Laws. The CCPA Is Next.
May 25, 2018, was a milestone for privacy in Europe. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2016 became fully applicable. One of GDPR’s goals is a “consistent and high …
