This was discovered after 150 sites, including virtual casinos, sports betting and online bingo sites, were tested by the newspaper and 52 were found automatically sharing data via Meta’s Pixel tracking tool.
Teenspace, the telehealth company contracted (for $26 million in NY) to provide free online therapy to teens had responded to parents’ and privacy groups by agreeing to remove trackers from its website but either overlooked (or didn’t bother to change) the landing pages for Seattle and Baltimore. This discovered by Gizmodo has now prompted changes to those as well.
The company did however note that, “as of now, European data residency can only be configured for new projects using the company’s API. Existing projects can’t be updated to have European residency.”
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.