Other members of the tech elite have their own troubles. The European Commission has begun an anti-trust probe of Apple’s App Store policies, specifically focusing on the requirement that app developers use the company’s in-app purchase system. And a French court recently upheld a $57 million privacy penalty against Google.
It’s Random News Day, Dear Reader. We’ll start with tech media company IDG, which just purchased Account Based Marketing platform Triblio. The deal will expand IDG’s marketing services capabilities. The deal follows last week’s purchase of ABM vendor Engagio by Demandbase.
If you’re wondering why people go to such trouble to grab your data, this study from PrivacyAffairs found a complete set suitable for identity theft would be worth $1,285 on the dark Web. Don’t be too flattered: most of the value comes from $550 for a U.S. driver’s license and $550 for a European national ID card. Unless you have both, your personal details are probably worth less than $1,285, Dear Reader. Sorry.
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.