Natasha Lomas, Author at TechCrunch

TikTok fined in Italy after ‘French scar’ challenge led to consumer safety probe

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 17:04:22 +0000

Italy’s competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, has fined TikTok €10 million (almost $11 million) following a probe into algorithmic safety concerns. The authority opened an investigation last year into a “French scar” challenge in which users of the platform were reported to have shared videos of marks on their faces made by pinching their […]

Europe eyes LinkedIn’s use of data for ads in another DSA ask

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:30:05 +0000

Microsoft-owned professional social network, LinkedIn, is the latest to get a formal request for information (RFI) from the EU. The Commission, which oversees larger platforms’ compliance with a subset of risk management, transparency and algorithm accountability rules in its ecommerce rulebook, the Digital Services Act (DSA), is asking questions about LinkedIn’s use of user data […]

EU dials up scrutiny of major platforms over GenAI risks ahead of elections

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 13:10:13 +0000

The European Commission has sent a series of formal requests for information (RFI) to Google, Meta, Microsoft, Snap, TikTok and X about how they’re handling risks related to the use of generative AI. The asks, which relate to Bing, Facebook, Google Search, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and X, are being made under the Digital Services […]

AliExpress is first online marketplace to face DSA investigation by EU

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 11:32:07 +0000

The European Union has opened its third formal investigation of a very large platform under the Digital Services Act (DSA), with China’s AliExpress earning itself the dubious honor of being the first online marketplace to face formal probe by the Commission. The DSA is the bloc’s rebooted e-commerce rules which demand risk assessments and mitigations […]

Deal on EU AI Act gets thumbs up from European Parliament

Natasha Lomas — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:00:12 +0000

The European Parliament voted Wednesday to adopt the AI Act, securing the bloc pole-position in setting rules for a broad sweep of artificial intelligence-powered software — or what regional lawmakers have dubbed “the world’s first comprehensive AI law”. MEPs overwhelmingly backed the provisional agreement reached in December in trilogue talks with the Council, with 523 […]

Apple to allow web distribution for iOS apps in latest DMA tweaks

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 13:44:58 +0000

Apple will allow iOS developers located in the European Union to distribute apps from the web, rather than from its App Store. The option, which it says will be made available to qualifying developers “later this spring,” is being offered in response to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which puts obligations on how Apple […]

Worldcoin fails to get injunction against Spain’s privacy suspension

Natasha Lomas — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 16:30:16 +0000

Controversial eyeball scanning startup Worldcoin has failed to get an injunction against a temporary suspension ordered Wednesday by Spain’s data protection authority, the AEPD. The authority used emergency powers contained in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to make the local order, which can apply for up to three months. It said it […]

EU’s use of Microsoft 365 found to breach data protection rules

Natasha Lomas — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 12:44:56 +0000

A lengthy investigation into the European Union’s use of Microsoft 365 has found the Commission breached the bloc’s data protection rules through its use of the cloud-based productivity software. Announcing its decision in a press release today, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said the Commission infringed “several key data protection rules when using Microsoft […]

How DMA gatekeepers are responding to the EU’s new competition rules — in their own words

Natasha Lomas — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:11:01 +0000

The compliance deadline for the six tech giants regulated under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) expired yesterday. Which means Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance/TikTok, Meta and Microsoft are now under active assessment by EU enforcers. The bloc will monitor whether they’re abiding by DMA requirements to deal fairly with business users of their regulated […]

Worldcoin says it’s paused services in Spain, after filing legal challenge to temporary ban

Natasha Lomas — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:50:47 +0000

A German subsidiary involved in Sam Altman’s controversial crypto blockchain digital identity business, Worldcoin, was reported Friday to have filed a legal challenge against a suspension order from Spain’s data protection authority. It also told us it has paused services in the market. Earlier this week it emerged that the Spanish authority, the AEPD, had […]

Tracking-ads industry faces another body blow in the EU

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 17:37:12 +0000

It’s been over two years since a key piece of the tracking-ads’ industry’s consent collection apparatus was found to breach European Union’s data protection laws. Today the surveillance data complex suffered another body blow: The bloc’s top court flicked away arguments made by the ad industry body responsible for the tool — confirming the strings […]

Europe’s DMA rules for Big Tech explained

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:05:28 +0000

The Digital Markets Act (DMA), an ex ante European Union reform of digital competition rules, will be in force today, by midnight Brussels’ time, on six tech giants — applying a new set of legal requirements on more than 20 of their “core platform services” (CPS). Online empires that scaled in an era of minimal […]

EU looking into Apple’s decision to kill Epic Games’ developer account

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 10:25:12 +0000

The European Union has confirmed it’s looking into Apple’s decision to close Epic Games’ developer account — citing three separate regulations that may apply. Yesterday the Fortnite maker revealed Apple had terminated the account, apparently reversing a decision to approve the developer account last month. Epic had planned to launch its own app store, the […]

Worldcoin hit with temporary ban in Spain over privacy concerns

Natasha Lomas — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:17:33 +0000

Spain’s data protection authority has ordered Worldcoin to temporarily stop collecting and processing personal data from the market. It must also stop processing any data it previously collected there. The controversial, Sam Altman-founded eyeball-scanning blockchain crypto project started operations in the market last July, as part of a global rollout. The Spanish authority is using […]

Google points to privacy changes, choice screens and data API ahead of DMA compliance day

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:21:36 +0000

Google has trailed another bundle of product tweaks ahead of Thursday’s deadline for compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA applies to Alphabet, Google’s parent, which is one of six designated “gatekeepers” under the ex ante competition reform. The pan-EU regulation, which is intended to open up digital markets with measures […]

Apple fined €1.84BN in EU over anti-steering on iOS music streaming market

Natasha Lomas — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 12:05:18 +0000

The European Union has fined Apple €1.84 billion (just under $2 billion) for breaching antitrust rules in the market for music streaming services on its mobile platform, iOS. The penalty is focused on Apple’s application of anti-steering provisions, which put restrictions on music streaming apps’ abilities to tell consumers about cheaper offers outside Apple’s App […]

Now the EU is asking questions about Meta’s ‘pay or be tracked’ consent model

Natasha Lomas — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:14:30 +0000

Meta’s controversial pay or be tracked ‘consent’ choice for users the European Union is facing questions from the European Commission. Today the bloc said it’s sent Facebook and Instagram’s owner a formal request for information (RFI) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), asking it to provide more detail on the “Subscription for no Ads options” […]

Meta’s ‘consent or pay’ data grab in Europe faces new complaints

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 05:30:23 +0000

A controversial move by Meta last year, when it switched to charging users in the European Union for an ad-free subscription to Facebook and/or Instagram unless they agreed to be tracked and profiled so it could keep running its attention-mining microtargeting ad business, has triggered a set of complaints from consumer rights groups. The complaints […]

Liveliness is a sports community app for finding new workout buddies

Natasha Lomas — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 18:13:39 +0000

Finding people who share your active passion — to go hiking, biking, running, whatever — is a pretty enduring problem. Existing friends and family aren’t always going to be into the same sporty pursuits as you and making new buddies at the gym or crag can be kinda awkward. Ditto trying your luck on random […]

Sweanty’s wearable patch for athletes tracks salt loss to help them hydrate

Natasha Lomas — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 15:55:45 +0000

Wearables are coming in an increasing array of shapes, form factors and guises these days as health and fitness tracking proliferates. Here at 4YFN at the MWC tradeshow we spotted a new one: A stick-on patch for tracking athletes’ sweat to monitor salt loss and help them tailor their rehydration strategy. The Spanish startup behind […]