Legal news on November 3, 2026

1. 0118:03 UTC

   DOJ opinion says FDA can widen supply chain disclosures

   2 outlets · first: The National Law Review Regulation

   Machine summary The report says the confidentiality limits in place now come from FDA regulations rather than a statutory bar in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The opinion does not change FDA policy on its own, the report states.

   1. Under current FDA rules, the report says, data on which firms appear in a product's distribution chain and where they are located is classed as confidential commercial information.
   2. Release of that information outside defined cases, such as when disclosure is needed to carry out an enforcement action or a recall, is restricted, according to the report.
   3. The opinion attributes the restrictions to FDA's own rulebook rather than to any ban written into the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the report states.
   4. The Trade Secrets Act bars federal staff from releasing certain confidential business information but permits releases that are 'authorized by law,' the opinion explains.

   Reported by The National Law Review and National Law Review.

   • National Law Review
   • Trade Secrets Act
   • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

2. 0220:18 UTC

   EEOC rescinds 2012 guidance on arrest and conviction records in hiring

   2 outlets · first: The National Law Review Regulation

   Machine summary On Oct. 28, 2026, the EEOC voted to retract enforcement guidance from 2012 concerning how records of arrests and convictions figure into employment choices; according to the National Law Review, the move was effective at once. The report states the rescission reaffirms an enforcement posture under which the commission will not pursue Title VII disparate-impact claims based on race or national origin arising from criminal-history inquiries. Employers remain subject to Title VII and to state and local laws, the report states.

   1. The EEOC voted on Oct. 28, 2026 to rescind its 2012 "Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions under Title VII," per the National Law Review.
   2. The rescission took effect immediately upon the vote, according to the report.
   3. The 2012 Guidance had recommended that employers not ask about convictions on job applications and limit any such inquiry to convictions whose exclusion is job related for the position and consistent with business necessity.
   4. The report notes that the Civil Rights Act's Title VII has never treated arrest and conviction records as protected characteristics.
   5. The rescission reaffirms an enforcement posture under which the commission will not pursue Title VII disparate-impact claims based on race or national origin arising from criminal-history inquiries, the report states.

   Reported by The National Law Review and National Law Review.

   • National Law Review

3. 0315:49 UTC

   Irish lawmaker calls for inquiry into Microsoft hosting of permit app

   2 outlets · first: EUobserver Regulation

   Machine summary Following what the report found, Irish Deputy Sinead Gibney, a member of the AI committee of Ireland's parliament, demanded that an investigation be opened.

   1. Al Munasseq was launched by Israel's COGAT unit in 2019 to manage Palestinian movement in the occupied territories for work, healthcare, prayer and everyday tasks (EUobserver).
   2. A campaigner said Palestinians must obtain military permits that run through a permit app, citing cancer patients needing radiotherapy in Jerusalem as an example.
   3. Sinead Gibney, an Irish Deputy who sits on the AI committee of Ireland's parliament, urged that an investigation be opened because of what the report found (EUobserver).

   Reported by EUobserver.

   • Microsoft
   • Al Munasseq
   • COGAT

4. 0421:51 UTC

   Judge orders seized Bitcoin wallet returned, citing no proof of crime link

   2 outlets · first: Global News Court decisions

   Machine summary A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled Tuesday that a laptop holding a Bitcoin wallet must be returned to a person’s family, finding that the Crown did not prove the cryptocurrency was connected to a crime. The judge kept the $5,000 in cash seized from the apartment because it was connected to the offence. A person had filed a notice of motion in April for the return of items seized after their 2015 arrest, the report states.

   1. Justice John Bodurtha ruled Tuesday in Halifax Supreme Court that a laptop containing a Bitcoin wallet be returned to a person's family, after finding the Crown failed to prove a link between the cryptocurrency and the killing, Global News reported.
   2. The judge said, as quoted, that "the Crown has not met its burden to demonstrate the cryptocurrency was used as part of the drug transaction, proceeds of crime, or otherwise tainted by criminality."

   Reported by Global News.

   • Bitcoin
   • Global News
   • Nova Scotia Supreme Court

5. 0523:46 UTC

   High Court rejects Uber appeal over $81m NSW payroll tax

   2 outlets · first: via Google News Court decisions

   Machine summary A majority ruled that drivers' contractual arrangements fell within the Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW), meaning fares passed on to them are treated as wages. In September 2024, Uber's collection-agent argument prevailed at first instance before the NSW Supreme Court, though the Court of Appeal overturned that decision on 1 August 2025.

   1. A majority on the High Court found that the drivers' contracts fell within the Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW), so fares going to them counted as wages under payroll tax rules (HCAMag).
   2. Uber was also ordered to pay the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue's legal costs, according to the report.
   3. Uber argued it functioned solely as an agent collecting payments; this contention prevailed initially in the NSW Supreme Court during September 2024 (HCAMag).
   4. On 1 August 2025, the NSW Court of Appeal unanimously set aside that decision; later, on 4 December 2025, the High Court gave Uber permission to appeal, according to HCAMag.

   Reported by HCAMag and via Google News.

   • Uber
   • NSW Supreme Court
   • NSW Court of Appeal
   • Chief Commissioner of State Revenue (NSW)
   • Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW)

Each summary and its key facts are a machine summary of the reports linked under it; the outlets, times and counts come from those reports' own records. How a rundown is built.