A decision by Austria’s data protection watchdog upholding a complaint against a website related to its use of Google Analytics does not bode well for use of US cloud services in Europe. The decision raises a big red flag over routine use of tools that require transferring Europeans’ personal data to the US for processing […]
Delivery Hero calls last orders on Foodpanda in Germany, Japan as it tightens focus on Q-commerce and logistics-as-a-service
German on-demand delivery giant Delivery Hero is pulling its food delivery service out of Germany again. At the same time it has announced it will exit the Japanese market, by divesting Foodpanda Japan, starting in Q1 next year. In a statement accompanying the pre-Christmas exit news, the company’s CEO and co-founder, Niklas Östberg, said: “Scaling […]
Europe offers tepid set of political ads transparency rules
It’s been almost a year since the EU’s executive announced it would propose rules for political ads transparency in response to concern about online microtargeting and big data techniques making mincemeat of democratic integrity and accountability. Today it’s come out with its proposal. But frankly it doesn’t look like the wait was worth it. The […]
EU’s data protection adviser latest to call for ban on tracking ads
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB), an expert steering body which advises EU lawmakers on how to interpret rules wrapping citizen’s personal data, has warned the bloc’s legislators that a package of incoming digital regulations risks damaging people’s fundamental rights — without “decisive action” to amend the suite of proposals. The reference is to draft […]
IAB Europe says it’s expecting to be found in breach of GDPR
Is this the beginning of the end for the hated tracking cookie consent pop-up? A flagship framework used by Google and scores of other advertisers for gathering claimed consent from web users for creepy ad targeting looks set to be found in breach of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A year ago the IAB […]
Leak shows Facebook’s business model needs regulating, says MEP
The European Parliament’s lead and shadow rapporteur for a major reboot of the bloc’s digital rulebook have called for an investigation following the Facebook whistleblower leaks. One of the MEPs has also called for incoming EU rules to directly tackle business models that favor “disinformation and violence over factual content”. In a joint statement, the […]
EU considers single rules for regulating vacation rental platforms
European Union lawmakers are consulting on how to regulate the short term rental market across the bloc — asking whether a single set of pan-EU rules or something more locally flavored is needed to rule over platforms like Airbnb. The Commission says it wants to support an expansion of competition and players in the sector […]
Europe will finally legislate for a common charger for mobiles
EU lawmakers are finally set to standardize charging ports for consumer electronics devices like smartphones and tablets — announcing a proposal today that, once adopted, will see the region settle on USB-C as a universal charging port for gadgets which will also include cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogames consoles. Some smaller consumer electronics […]