China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) ordered a halt to updates of existing Tencent apps pending review. The government has focused on Tencent because nine of its products were found to violate data protection rules.
In the first case, the Italian Competition Authority concluded that the companies were colluding to block other resellers of Apple-owned Beats products sold on the Amazon's Italy marketplace. In the second, Apple and Google were fined for violating EU competition rules, using aggressive methods in the way they utilize consumer data, and failing to provide enough information to customers on how their data would be used.
Belarus has enacted a new personal data protection law which adds liabilities to companies, including a requirement to develop an algorithm for processing data for individuals, clients, or when representing a legal entity. It also applies to relationships with employees.
It’s tough to get brand safety right, but the industry keeps trying. IPG Mediabrands announced a new set of tools to find and block inappropriate ad placements, while IAS expanded its suitability measurements to include standards from the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). Meanwhile, DoubleVerify admitted a mistake made brand safety on X/Twitter look worse than it really was in October 2023 and March 2024.