• Jan 24, 2022
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Bombshell Decision That Use of Google Analytics in Austria Violates Top EU Court’s Ruling Boosts GDPR Impact Again

The GDPR is finally beginning to make itself felt more strongly, as a series of blog posts have noted. The situation is summed up in a new “DLA Piper GDPR fines and data breach survey”. Compared with the previous year, total GDPR fines have increased from $179 million to $1.2 billion. But as the report … Continue reading “Bombshell Decision That Use of Google Analytics in Austria Violates Top EU Court’s Ruling Boosts GDPR Impact Again”

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  • Jan 15, 2022
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media,

Good News for GDPR Enforcement against Cookie Walls, but Also a Dangerous Legal Challenge from WhatsApp

As most people know from bitter personal experience, one of the most tiresome aspects of moving around the web is the constant barrage of pop-ups, asking whether the user agrees to cookies. The companies running the websites like to blame this on the EU’s GDPR, which requires people to consent to cookies and the tracking … Continue reading “Good News for GDPR Enforcement against Cookie Walls, but Also a Dangerous Legal Challenge from WhatsApp”

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  • Dec 9, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Schrems vs. DPC Battle Heats Up, as New Document Suggests Irish Privacy Body Tried to Weaken GDPR

The privacy campaigner Max Schrems has been doggedly fighting to force Facebook to respect EU users’ privacy for nearly a decade now. As this blog has reported, there have been many twists and turns in the saga. Earlier this year, it seemed that the key player responsible for enforcing the protection of Facebook users in … Continue reading “Schrems vs. DPC Battle Heats Up, as New Document Suggests Irish Privacy Body Tried to Weaken GDPR”

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  • Nov 16, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media,

Google Allegedly Boasted of Slowing Down and Delaying ePrivacy Regulation, Accused of Colluding with Facebook

Back in December last year, Texas and nine other US states sued Google alleging that the company enjoys monopolistic power, and that it is stifling competition. Google called this a “misleading attack“, and insisted that the allegations were “wrong”. The move by the US states is of great relevance to this blog because it concerned … Continue reading “Google Allegedly Boasted of Slowing Down and Delaying ePrivacy Regulation, Accused of Colluding with Facebook”

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  • Nov 4, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Social Media, Surveillance,

“Complexity is Fraud”: Why We Must Drop Micro-Targeted Ads to Help Publishers and to Protect Online Privacy

It has been clear for years that the widespread use of micro-targeted advertising and real-time bidding represents a huge threat to online privacy. Fortunately, an alternative approach is already to hand. Using contextual advertising, where ads are placed according to the editorial material, rather than based on who is viewing it, would allow the entire … Continue reading ““Complexity is Fraud”: Why We Must Drop Micro-Targeted Ads to Help Publishers and to Protect Online Privacy”

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  • Oct 20, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Facebook’s Very Bad, No Good Week: What It Means for Privacy, and How to Make Things Better

On 5 October, Mark Zuckerberg sent a note to Facebook employees, beginning: “Hey everyone: it’s been quite a week, and I wanted to share some thoughts with all of you.” That’s something of an understatement in the wake of not one, but two, devastating blows to the company, both with important implications for privacy. The … Continue reading “Facebook’s Very Bad, No Good Week: What It Means for Privacy, and How to Make Things Better”

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  • Sep 21, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, Governments, Social Media,

UK Leads the Charge Against End-to-End Encryption, Calls on Tech Companies to “Nerd Harder”

As Privacy News Online has reported, for years governments around the world have kept up a constant assault on end-to-end encryption. One of the leaders of this attempt to demonize a crucially important technology for preserving privacy is the UK. Wired reported back in April that the UK is trying to stop Facebook adding end-to-end … Continue reading “UK Leads the Charge Against End-to-End Encryption, Calls on Tech Companies to “Nerd Harder””

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  • Sep 13, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

What The West’s Disorderly Withdrawal from Afghanistan Tells Us About Privacy and its Preservation

In the wake of the West’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul, and the rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban, Afghanistan continues to dominate the headlines. Given the major geopolitical implications of these events, with China already looking to capitalize on the West’s failure, that’s hardly surprising. What is more unexpected is how prominently issues … Continue reading “What The West’s Disorderly Withdrawal from Afghanistan Tells Us About Privacy and its Preservation”

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  • Aug 18, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Will Privacy Activist Max Schrems’ New Legal Action Against Facebook at EU’s Highest Court Prove to Be His Most Important Yet?

Given the by-now inarguable importance of data protection to the online world today, it is extraordinary that one person and his organization have almost single-handedly shaped the privacy landscape there. The lawyer and activist Max Schrems, along with his NOYB.eu group, have featured many times on this blog. So many times, in fact, that it … Continue reading “Will Privacy Activist Max Schrems’ New Legal Action Against Facebook at EU’s Highest Court Prove to Be His Most Important Yet?”

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  • Jul 29, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

How Discussions at the World Wide Web Consortium Could Undermine Efforts to Strengthen Privacy

One of the surest signs that privacy is becoming a major factor in the online world is the attempt by major Internet companies to claim that they value it. Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed that “The future is private“, while Google wrote that “Privacy is paramount to us“. As part of that attempt to jump on the … Continue reading “How Discussions at the World Wide Web Consortium Could Undermine Efforts to Strengthen Privacy”

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