Friday, 29th of November 2024
A decision has been made yesterday in the case of the Budapest Metropolitan Government Office, Hungary, which provided the data subject with a certificate confirming the vaccination against COVID-19, but without supplying the data subject with a privacy notice or telling him/her from where the government office obtained the data.
Upon inspection, it became clear that the government office obtained the data subject's information from a secondary source, and, due to certain exceptions put in place during the pandemic, was not required to inform the person where his/her data was obtained from.
The Court of Justice of the European Union, issuing a decision in this case, upheld the decision of the Hungarian Government Office:
'Accordingly, the controller may be exempted from its usual obligation to provide information to a data subject provided that that data subject is able to exercise control over those personal data and exercise the rights conferred upon him or her by the GDPR.'
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A case has been filed against Google by The Competition Bureau in Canada this week.
The case maintains that Google is essentially monopolising the online web advertising market. From the News Release of the Bureau, they have found that Google:
- Was giving its own tools preferential access to ad inventory
- Was taking negative margins in certain circumstances to disadvantage rivals
- Was dictating the terms on which its own publisher customers could transact with rival ad tech tools
All of the above violate the anticompetition laws, and The Bureau seeks an order to compel Google to:
- sell two of its ad tech tools
- pay a penalty to promote compliance with the Competition Act
- prohibit Google from continuing to engage in anticompetitive practices
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Following the 2024 US Election, many people, disappointed by the election results, have migrated to BlueSky from X. As of November 2024, the new platform, created by Jack Dorsey, former head of Twitter, has up to 20 million users. Concerns over Mr Musk's handling of X - particularly the changes to the 'block' feature, and allowing AI to train on users' data - have also played a role in the increasing popularity of BlueSky.
Although BlueSky is rapidly growing, it still has a long way to go to match Meta's Threads (275 million users) and X (estimated to have over 300 million users). It has, however, surpassed X in the number of downloads from the US AppStore, according to TechCrunch. So far, BlueSky is the fastest-growing app in terms of users.
We are excited to see how BlueSky will be handling people's personal data, and will keep monitoring their developments in the privacy sphere.
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Fraud is one of the most common crimes in the UK, amounting to 39% of all crimes committed.
Some companies may be unsure how much personal data they are allowed to share when faced with fraud, but the ICO reiterates: "Data protection law does not prevent organisations from sharing personal information, if they do so in a responsible, fair and proportionate way."
Take a look at the various resources you can use to determine how to utilise personal information when fighting fraud.
To raise fraud awareness, we are happy to share the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners' (ACFE) guide.
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The emerging field of AI poses many questions not only for data protection, but also for the ethics and purpose of its use. The structure of AI companies is directly influenced by the answer to the latter.
OpenAI, creator of Chat-GPT, has 'gone from a tax-exempt charity to a $157 billion for-profit, market-paralyzing gorgon — and in just eight years', says Elon Musk, according to Reuters. Musk filed a lawsuit in court in California last week - with its 'anti-competitive practices,' enabling the shift from a charity fostering human progress to a profit-focused business, it is becoming more clear that the AI market needs more pruning. This is the stance of Mr. Musk.
For AI users, the profit-making restructuring of OpenAI poses interesting questions about what strategies the management will employ in order to increase revenue. It cannot be ignored the role data collecting and data sharing will play in this new structure. Tech giants have long relied upon collecting people's personal information to generate targeted ads. AI use, on the other hand, poses other risks. Either way, responsible use of AI (Lawfulness, Transparency, Purpose Limitation…) is paramount.
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Under Article 40 of UK GDPR, organisations may create codes of conduct that address data protection issues in their particular sector.
How should private investigators respect people's private data while utilising covert surveillance, tracking devices, background checks and social media monitoring on suspects? The following document highlights how to utilise lawfully tracing and locating people while respecting their privacy rights.
Read the Guide below from The Association of British Investigators Limited (ABI)
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On November 14th 2024, the European Commission has fined Meta €797.72 million - not for abusing people's privacy - but for breaching EU antitrust rules.
By tying its ads service Facebook Marketplace to Facebook, Meta was imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers, thus breaching Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
- This means that all Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not.
- Competitors of Facebook Marketplace may be at a disadvantage as the tie gives Facebook Marketplace a substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match.
- Unilaterally imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers who advertise on Facebook and Instagram. This allows Meta to use ads-related data generated by other advertisers for the sole benefit of Facebook Marketplace.
The Commission has ordered Meta to bring the conduct to an end, and to refrain from repeating the infringement.
