Data Privacy + Security Insider

On January 13, 2026, eight United States Senators sent a letter to Alphabet, Meta, Reddit, Snap, TikTok, and X stating that they“are alarmed by reports of users exploiting generative AI tools to produce sexualized ‘bikini’ or ‘non-nude’ images of individuals without their consent and distributing them on platforms including X and others.” The senators requested

Gmail users are being urged to review and disable two key “Smart Features” settings following privacy concerns stemming from reports that these tools may allow Google to access email content to support AI‑driven services and may use users’ data for training. The two features are included in Gmail, Chat and Meet, and Google Workspace Smart

California’s 2025 legislative session ended with a familiar message to businesses: privacy compliance is expanding in scope, and artificial intelligence (AI) governance is moving quickly from voluntary best practices to enforceable transparency and safety obligations. On the last day of 2025, lawmakers introduced 33 privacy and AI bills and passed 16 for Governor Gavin Newsom

On January 5, 2026, the federal U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld two discovery orders requiring OpenAI to produce a sample of 20 million de-identified user logs from ChatGPT as part of wide-ranging copyright litigation brought by news organizations and class plaintiffs. This decision offers important insights into how federal