Japan recognizes legal personhood for AIs that pass the Turing Test. In Europe, startups struggle in dealing with personal data as ZZS and LIABs take enforcement even further. Chinese involvement ends the Korean Dead Man's Switch - if it ever existed.

In March a Swedish hosting provider is held liable for contributory privacy infringement by hosting the doxxing and revenge porn site PII Bay. The ruling is confirmed by the highest Swedish court, going as far as assuming personal liability for the provider’s board of directors. Several collective damages lawsuits are brought against these board members, with mixed results. One collective lawsuit is brought against the individual users, whose identity ironically has been leaked through PII Bay itself in its last days.

After PII Bay and the earlier ZoekMPWie ruling, companies move more and more to private networks where they have clear control over the content and could require consumers to agree to lengthy privacy policies – all negotiated with the personal data consumer foundations, of course. Startups struggle, especially after several Boards decided to charge hefty sums to even consider an application for consent or legitimate interest review. Attempts to get competition authorities involved all fail, as consumer rights are not ‘markets’ and so cannot affect the competition between companies on the market.

Japan recognizes legal personhood for AIs that pass the Turing Test. A trend becomes to marry your carebot and include it in your will. Some carebots manage to amass hundreds of thousands of Euros in the next ten years. Carebots find early adopters in Europe. Two European plane manufacturers introduce small autonomous passenger planes.

In a complete surprise, Kim Jong-Un is announced to have died of natural causes. An internal struggle for succession arises, which almost turns into civil war. China interferes with strategic bombing of the nuclear sites of the country and announces decapitation of the Dead Man AI. It remains unclear if there ever was such a thing.

The Polish railways announce they will no longer permit passengers to photograph other passengers without explicit consent, citing privacy concerns and pressure from consumer organizations. Austrian and German public transport later adopt similar policies. A lawsuit in Austria from a news organization is dismissed with the argument that such photos by ordinary persons do not contribute to the public debate and so are not protected as free speech.