TikTok is being sued by the parents of four British children ages 12-14 who they believe died after doing a blackout challenge. The intent is to force the firm to release their children’s data to better understand what happened, but TikTok says they aren’t entitled to that data without a court order and implied it may have been deleted.
Stop, stay, and strike seem to be watchwords the Trump administration and states are using for privacy regulations that had been underway when Republicans took over. Among changes: 1) a freeze on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had finalized; 2) recommended postponement of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Rule, which as of April was intended to prohibit sales or licensing of sensitive data to countries of concern (including Russia and China); and 3) rescinding the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use... Read More >
This is something the company had previously said “subverted user choice” and was “wrong,” but apparently Google’s desire to give online advertisers a gift of unconsented data changed that.
Preliminary findings by the European Commission state that Apple and Google are in violation of the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Among the findings, Google Search is accused of prioritizing Google’s own products and services in results; Apple is instructed to improve interoperability between iOS and third-party devices. The companies now have an opportunity to respond.