Top ten tech predictions - What to look out for in 2022

To kick off the New Year, Walker Morris' tech law experts highlight ten legal and regulatory developments to look out for in 2022.

1. Data protection and e-privacy reform – the Government is considering proposals to reduce regulatory burdens, while in Europe the screws are tightening on US-based cloud giants. It will be interesting to see the direction of travel on all things data with a brand new UK Information Commissioner at the helm.
2. Increased scrutiny of 'Big Tech' – the Online Safety Bill – expected to be put to Parliament for approval in 2022 – will place greater responsibility on internet service providers for what is happening on their platforms. A new competition regime is also expected to be introduced where anti-competitive practices may result in fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
3. New laws to regulate AI – the Government is due to publish a White Paper in the first half of 2022 on a pro-innovation national position on governing and regulating AI. The outcome of a recent consultation on how the copyright and patent system should deal with AI is awaited. Also expect to hear more from the Information Commissioner's Office on its AI and data protection risk toolkit.
4. Digital supply chain – expect businesses to use technologies such as automation, cloud and blockchain to address issues of supply chain resilience and visibility in light of the pandemic. Environmental, Social and Governance targets will place further emphasis on this.
5. Financial services tech focus – ESG will also drive digital innovation in the financial services sector. We also expect to see a consultation by the Bank of England and HM Treasury assessing the case for a UK central bank digital currency.
6. Stricter cybersecurity practices – the Government recently launched its National Cyber Strategy 2022 that includes prioritising cyber security in the workplace, boardrooms and digital supply chains. Regulation will follow with new requirements to be complied with by 2025. Expect increased scrutiny of companies’ policies and standards.
7. New consumer rights – new standards – including a ban on default passwords and requirements for manufacturers to manage the reporting of security vulnerabilities – will give consumers greater comfort around the purchase of smart devices: further detail will materialise as proposed legislation continues through the Parliamentary stages in 2022.
8. Increased collaboration – expect collaboration between governments, regulators and other bodies to increase in 2022 as they seek to balance the protection of individuals against the undoubted benefits of innovation and the digital economy. A recent Parliamentary report  stressed that Parliament, regulators and Government must adapt their ways of working to keep pace with the digital world.
9. Smart contracts and blockchain – expect to see legal obligations encoded onto blockchain following the Law Commission's recent confirmation that English law can accommodate smart legal contracts. Their ‘reasonable coder’ concept – a theoretical person with knowledge and understanding of code – is an interesting approach to dealing with inevitable issues of interpreting these contracts written in programming language.
10. Web3 and NFTs – recent excitement about inviting consumers into the metaverse will only speed up the rate at which Web3 technologies take on mainstream adoption, yet the law still has catching up to do so expect further regulation. NFTs will no doubt feature heavily in the news in 2022. As we move past 2021’s ‘jpeg summer’ it will be exciting to see what utility can be given to NFTs this year and the use cases that spring up around that.

This blog was originally authored by Sally Mewies and Luke Jackson, Walker Morris.

The full article can be read here.

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