The first salvo testing Washington State’s My Health My Data Act, which took effect last March, has been launched with a suit claiming Amazon tracked user location data without consent – to use for targeted advertising via Amazon Ads SDKs (software development kits) that developers use.
The law allows individuals to sue for as much as $25,000 for violations of sharing their health data.
The success of retail media has paved the way for the rise of commerce media, says a new report from eMarketer, sponsored by LiveRamp. Commerce media includes retail media and similar initiatives from non-retail vendors such as financial services, travel, and commerce intermediaries like Instacart and Uber Eats. Ad spend on financial media networks, for example, will reach $35 million in the U.S. this year, and more than quadruple by 2026.
Well beyond operational efficiency, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has just asked the Internal Revenue System (IRS) for access to accounts in the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) which holds individual personal ID numbers and bank account information for taxpayers and businesses. Scarily, those with access can also enter and adjust transaction data. Even if this were to promote efficiency, why do it in the midst of tax season – and why at all?
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.