A federal court in California issued a broad ruling that affects Disney, ViacomCBS and tens of thousands of gaming apps, which must now limit data they collect on children ages up to 13. They will also be prohibited from using behaviorally targeted ads other than contextual ads based on app content.
Australia’s federal court ruling against Google location setting may set a precedent for court cases and laws worldwide. Google denies wrongdoing, but Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claims Google misled consumers into believing their personal location on Android could be turned off at setup via Location History. In fact, a setting for “Web & App Activity” accesses location by default and customers were not informed. The ACCC seeks a series of penalties and compliance orders as part of settlement.
Privacy browser Brave has removed FLoC from its version for desktop and Android, and search engine DuckDuckGo has changed its browser extension to block Google’s FLoC tracking in Chrome. FLoC, which is Google’s “Federated Learning of Cohorts,” claims to be privacy-friendly, but “shares information about browsing behavior with sites and advertisers,” according to Brave executives.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.