CDP Institute

The Irish Protection Commission, which has jurisdiction over TikTok in the EU, has a month to issue the final penalty and rules for the platform when it comes to children’s and teen data. TikTok is used by 125 million people in the EU bloc. While the fine amount has not been announced, this can move ahead because the European Protection Board (EDPB) resolved disputes among several of the EU regulators.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) introduced regulation to keep children off the internet a lot of the time, which could be a game changer for Tencent, ByteDance and other social platforms. The new rules have specific rules for different age groups of children, and include limiting “non-adult” children from accessing the internet via mobile for more than 2 hours between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 am.

The EU regulators want more concessions if Meta wants to stave off a major fine.

The ruling results from a case in which a male Facebook user wanted to remain anonymous after making secret recordings of women and then posting defamatory statements about them. A claimant asked Meta to delete the posts and identify the man, but Meta refused claiming his free speech rights. However, the Court ruled the claimant deserved an opportunity to challenge the man’s allegedly defamatory statements.

The suit, which alleged Instagram used a facial recognition feature that violated the law by capturing facial scans without consent, is open to users active on Instagram from August 10, 2015 to the present.

New investigations by the European Commission about Microsoft Teams and by France’s Autorité de la concurrence about Apple continue efforts to reign in Big Tech overreach. With Microsoft concern is that having bundled Teams software with its Office 365 suite by default, Microsoft made it difficult for other products to compete. With Apple, the regulator that oversees competition is looking into claims the company used its market position to implement discriminatory, non-transparent conditions to use its customer data to be used for ad purposes.

Saudi officials announced Microsoft’s $2 billion investment plan to build a cloud storage facility in the kingdom at Neom, the mega-development spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Concern is this could expose sensitive personal and political data.

AI is running far ahead of our ability to craft laws to control it and, though we saw it coming, legislation has moved slowly. The US has few laws to regulate and control it, while the EU’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act, is looking to lead with a global standard as it did with GDPR. In Asia, China is moving quickly to get laws on the books, and Singapore, Japan and Australia have been proactive as well with specific focus on cybersecurity.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)’s has proposed use of what it’s calling the “Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation” technology to verify under COPPA the age of people who are giving consent for a child to use a given technology. It’s to be developed in cooperation with Yoti, an ID Platform; and SuperAwesome, which develops online safety tools.  The intent is to insure verifiable parental consent.

Today’s cars include many built-in apps, sensors, and cameras, which can monitor people inside and near the vehicle.

The group, led by Max Schrems, is concerned over Ryanair’s practice that’s used when customers book via online travel agents (OTAs).