Search results for "European Commission"

Facebook grilled by UK lawmakers making online safety rules

British lawmakers grilled Facebook on Thursday over how it handles online safety as European countries move to rein in the power of social media companies. Facebook’s head of safety said the tech giant supports regulation and has no business interest in providing people with an “unsafe experience.” Representatives from Google, Twitter and TikTok also answered […]

Energy crunch hits global recovery as winter approaches

Power shortages are turning out streetlights and shutting down factories in China. The poor in Brazil are choosing between paying for food or electricity. German corn and wheat farmers can’t find fertilizer, made using natural gas. And fears are rising that Europe will have to ration electricity if it’s a cold winter. The world is […]

Irish watchdog fines WhatsApp $267M after EU privacy probe

Ireland’s privacy watchdog has fined WhatsApp a record 225 million euros ($267 million) after an investigation found it breached stringent European Union data protection rules on transparency about sharing people’s data with other Facebook companies. The Data Protection Commission said Thursday that it was also ordering WhatsApp to take “remedial actions” to change the way […]

South Korea bans Google, Apple payment monopolies

South Korea’s National Assembly approved legislation on Tuesday that bans app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems. South Korea is reportedly the first country in the world to pass such a bill, which becomes law when it is signed by the president, whose party has […]

Epic Lawsuit reveals Google’s Play Store Anti-Competitor Programs

Documents revealed on Thursday in Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Google exhibit allegations of how the search engine giant conducted underground deals with other companies to sustain Google’s Play Store supremacy on the app ecosystem. Premier Device Program, the social network’s offer to Android manufacturers to give exclusive rights to adopt Google’s Play Store as […]

Germany warns Zoom videoconferencing of privacy law violations

Germany’s Hamburg privacy watchdog warned its government on Monday that the use of Zoom’s on-demand videoconferencing violates the EU’s privacy laws. Privacy advocates considered that the use of the U.S.-based service will lead to the transmission of EU data to the company’s hometown. “The transmission of data is said to reach the U.S., which violates […]

Serbian Telecom introduces mobile services in Macedonia

Serbia-based telecom company, Telekom Srbija, announced on Thursday the launching of its new subsidiary in North Macedonia called Mtel, to provide mobile services in the area by the end of 2021.  The future subsidiary will offer satellite TV services that will be launched within a month; along with mobile telephony and optical internet services that will be provided by the end of 2021, according to Serbian media reports.  The state-owned company revealed that it aims to expand […]

Luxembourg’s CNPD fined Amazon for $888 million

Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) penalized on July 16 e-commerce titan Amazon with a roaring $888 million fine over allegations of violating EU’s data protection laws. The decision came against Amazon Europe Core under the pretense that Amazon is processing customer personal data. The verdict is based on a 2018 complaint by French […]

Priest outed via Grindr app highlights rampant data tracking

When a religious publication used smartphone app data to deduce the sexual orientation of a high-ranking Roman Catholic official, it exposed a problem that goes far beyond a debate over church doctrine and priestly celibacy. With few U.S. restrictions on what companies can do with the vast amount of data they collect from web page […]

WhatsApp faces EU consumer complaint over privacy update

Facebook’s WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service has been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update in what it calls a breach of the bloc’s regulations. The European Consumer Organisation, or BEUC, filed a complaint Monday over the way WhatsApp has brought in changes to […]