On December 1, the Washington State AI Task Force (“Task Force”) released its Interim Report with AI policy recommendations to the Governor and legislature. Established by the legislature in 2024, the Task Force is responsible for evaluating current and potential uses of AI in Washington and recommending regulatory and legislative actions to “ensure responsible AI
Guest Post: Deterioration in U.S. Securities Litigation Risk
Nessim Mezrahi
Stephen Sigrist
In the following guest post, Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist analyze financial market trends to assess the recent variances in the U.S. securities litigation risk. Nessim Mezrahi is co-founder and CEO, and Stephen Sigrist is a senior vice president, at SAR LLC. SAR previously published this data on their U.S. Securities Litigation Risk Management Report – Nov. 2025, here. I would like to thank Nessim and Stephen for allowing me to publish their article on my site.
2025 Year-In-Review: Biometric Privacy Litigation
One of the most significantly litigated areas of privacy law is biometric privacy. Tools that collect biometric information and biometric identifiers—including facial geometries, fingerprint scans, and voiceprints—are increasingly common for businesses across industries. Unfortunately, such tools in recent years have become focuses of the plaintiffs’ bar.
2025 saw continued developments in litigation under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), one of the first and most important biometric privacy laws in the country, as well as other, lesser-litigated biometric laws. Squire Patton Boggs’ globally ranked “Elite” Data Disputes team is well experienced defending businesses and their data practices, including in the realm of biometric privacy, in both litigation and arbitration, including mass arbitration. See also https://www. privacyworld.blog/2025/12/2025-mass-arbitration-year-in-review/
In this article, informed by our practical experience litigating and arbitrating biometric cases, we: (I) provide a brief primer on BIPA and then take a look at some highlights of the 2025 biometric privacy litigation space, including (II) class action and mass arbitration activity under BIPA, (III) key questions regarding defenses to BIPA claims on appeal at the Seventh Circuit, (IV) a decision contrasting BIPA with New York City’s biometric regime, (V) developments under other biometric laws enforced by attorneys general, and (VI) the intersection of AI and biometric privacy laws.
Cyber Insurer Offers Product for Deepfakes
Deepfakes continue to be problematic for organizations and individuals. They are hard to detect and hard to respond to when used in an attack against a company.
To respond to this ongoing, and increasingly prevalent, problem, cyber insurer Coalition announced this week that it will expand coverage for “certain incidents where AI and deepfakes lead
Getting Ready for the 2026 Election – Steps Broadcasters Should Be Taking Now to Avoid Legal Issues with Political Broadcasting
The deadline for candidates in Texas to file for a place on the March 3 primary ballot was this week. Deadlines for filing to become a qualified candidate in other states will follow soon for other primaries that occur in March, and then throughout the first part of 2026. As a result, broadcast stations and cable companies across the country will be dealing with all of the FCC political rules that become important once you have legally qualified candidates. Even before the deadline for candidates to file for their place on the ballot, stations are dealing with buys from potential candidates, PACs, and other third-party groups looking to establish positions for the important 2026 elections. Spending on political advertising is sure to increase as the new year rolls around, and some suggest that it could rival or even exceed the record amounts spent in prior elections. What should broadcast stations be thinking about now to get ready for the 2026 elections?
The week before Thanksgiving I did a webinar for over 20 state broadcast associations on these issues (check with your state association to see if they have access to an archived copy of that webinar). We have also written about some of the issues that broadcasters should already be considering in our Political Broadcasting Guide (which we plan to update shortly). But there are many issues that broadcasters need to consider now. Some of those are discussed below.
What does a font have to do with an employer’s values? Apparently, a lot.
The State Department just ordered diplomats to ditch Calibri and return to Times New Roman as the required typeface in all official communications. Secretary Marco Rubio framed this change not as a typography choice, but as a way to “abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program.”
Calibri, however, didn’t become the State Department’s font because someone
Zuzu’s Christmas Album: A Holiday Soundtrack from the Age of AI
There’s something fitting about me releasing an AI-generated holiday album at the close of 2025, a year that has redefined what creativity means in the age of intelligent tools. Zuzu’s Christmas Album isn’t your typical seasonal project. It’s both a festive soundtrack and a live experiment in how far generative technology has come in just
Deepfake Legislation: What the Law Covers Today and Where It’s Going
Deepfake technology creates synthetic images, videos, and audio that mimic real people with near-perfect accuracy. What started as novelty content now powers scams, impersonation, political interference, and nonconsensual pornography. The threat is no longer hypothetical. The law is working to catch up.
While there is still no broad federal ban on all deepfakes, Congress passed
Beyond Headcount: Why the Cybersecurity Skills Gap Now Defines Risk and Readiness
Editor’s Note: The 2025 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study marks a fundamental turning point in how we understand organizational risk. For years, the conversation has been dominated by the global shortage of workers. However, as this article details, the narrative has shifted: we now face a shortage of specific, high-value capabilities—particularly in AI and cloud security—that
The Catch-22 of Canadian Digital Sovereignty
My latest Globe and Mail op-ed begins by noting that digital sovereignty has emerged as the watchword driving Canada’s digital policy agenda, as the government seeks to position the country as a global leader in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. The increased emphasis on digital policy is welcome given the years of neglect or failed strategies