The motor industry must stay vigilant whether it is to navigate the emerging legal and ethical considerations surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI), data security and environmental responsibility.
Speaking throughout the Motor Ombudsman and Radius Law Automotive Business & Law Conference held in London on May 15, Iain Larkins, director at Radius Law, said problems with liability in an increasingly automated environment were gaining prominence.
He said the Automated Vehicles draft laws which was published in November 2023 – and which is a response to recommendations issued by the Law Commission after a comprehensive four-year review – will primarily deal with the handling of non-public data and the problem of liability.
The matter of liability is especially complex, he said, because it involves determining responsibility which has seen the event of latest concepts just like the Authorised Self-Driving Entity (ASD) and the User in Charge.
“Parliament continues to be fighting this and so they’re still debating lots, with complexity of deciphering when liability would switch from the vehicle to the driving force, especially as driver handover may vary depending on the aspects comparable to the situation of auto, the layout of the road, web connectivity in that in that exact area – so there’s still quite an extended, long solution to go in working through this Bill,” said Larkins.
Moving to a broader perspective on AI, he said the differing approaches taken by the European Union (EU) and the UK was of interest. The EU is actively legislating on this area with the aim of making a typical legal framework for the event and use of AI services and products, balancing concerns regarding privacy, bias, discrimination, safety, and security.
Larkins said the Eu’s primary concerns are privacy, bias, discrimination, safety and security and that its controls have been developed with a risk-based approach. The laws also categorises the risks and people apps which might be considered a threat to people can be banned. “The high risk might be an area of real focus for vehicles.”
He added that the definition of AI is wide and there’s widespread agreement that that is going to cause numerous problems
“It isn’t nearly machine learning; it captures potentially all several types of software. Also, businesses are expected to self-assess so businesses have gotten to decide on themselves which risk category their AI product falls into and can have to think about conformity risk management, testing, data use transparency, human oversight, and cybersecurity.”
“Fines are staggering,” he warned. “Non-compliance will result in fines starting from €7.5 million or 1.5% of world turnover as much as €35 million or 7% of world turnover.”
In contrast, the UK is embracing a more ‘laissez-faire’ approach, specializing in encouraging innovation while providing guidance quite than statutory regulations: “It’s totally much certainly one of ‘come here, innovate, and we can’t hassle you an excessive amount of’.”
It was nonetheless necessary to notice that despite this approach, businesses operating internationally, including within the EU, will still have to adhere to EU regulations, making the EU’s AI Act highly relevant.
Larkins said there have been also necessary developments by way of data security laws, each within the UK and the EU. For example, the EU Data Act goals to manage the use and access of knowledge generated through connected devices, ensuring user access and imposing restrictions on charging for data. Compliance with these regulations can be crucial, with substantial fines for non-compliance.
By way of general data, Larkins said that certainly one of the things that’s continuously difficult manufacturers is the repair access to technical information.
“We now have this quite necessary judgement from the European Court of Justice in October that ruled against Stellantis for refusing to grant unrestricted access to diagnostic repair and maintenance data to independent repairers,” he said.
The ECJ nonetheless ruled against Stellantis’ argument which centred on data security, and clarified that independent operators will need to have full access to the vehicle information needed for his or her task in the sector of auto repair and maintenance.
On the subject of non-public data, Larkins said recent cases highlighted the importance of sturdy data security measures, with regulators holding each data processors and controllers accountable, meaning that the vetting of knowledge processing contracts and diligent oversight was now critically necessary.
Moreover, there are ongoing discussions and developments regarding data transfer agreements and employee monitoring, underlining the necessity for firms to remain informed and compliant.
“There will be an obligation to offer date to those users freed from charge which is able to include that generated through connected devices, particularly around enabling them to port that data perhaps to a brand new product or a brand new vehicle that they go on to buy. Data can have to be provided to other businesses, albeit for an affordable compensation,” said Larkins.
There are limited exceptions concerning trade secrets and data security and Larkins said it should be interesting to see how that plays out in practice. “Little question,” he said, “we’ll have some court cases over the meaning of that.” He said the EU is proposing to create model contractual clauses to assist make clear.
Data protection under EU GDPR provisions is one other cause for concern. “If you will have some data like a VIN and you will have no access to an identifiable individual with that data, then it is not personal data. But under EU GDPR when you’ve got access to a different bit of knowledge, and subsequently you connect those bits of knowledge together to give you the option to locate or find a person, it then becomes personal data,” said Larkins. “So, currently unlinkable data can turn into linkable data, and becomes personal data.”
Within the realm of environmental concerns, particularly throughout the automotive sector, Larkins said the growing deal with sustainability was prompting greater scrutiny of the accuracy of environmental claims.
Regulatory bodies are taking greater interest in advertisements to make sure transparency and stop misleading claims, especially regarding emissions and range specifications of electrical vehicles (EV) and Larkins said the EU’s ban on terms like “climate neutral” or “climate positive” that depend on offsetting needs to be noted.
“What I’m concerned about more is the quantity of claims firms which might be on the market. I’m pretty sure that unless we’re really focused on how we advertise EVs particularly, we’re going to start out to face claims firms from vehicles being missold and that is where it will really begin to hurt financially.”
Issues related to online sales practices, comparable to “dark patterns” that employ pressure tactics or misleading price comparisons, are also coming under scrutiny by regulatory bodies comparable to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) so businesses must ensure transparency and fairness of their online sales processes to avoid fines or legal motion.
This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
