Natasha Lomas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Lomas
Longevity-loving Fairphone 5 unwrapped, with pledge of 8+ years software support
Ethical electronics startup, Fairphone, has taken the recycled wrapping off a new flagship smartphone, the Fairphone 5, which will start shipping to buyers in Europe next month. The Android 13-powered
All hail the new EU law that lets social media users quiet quit the algorithm
Internet users in the European Union are logging on to a quiet revolution on mainstream social networks today: The ability to say ‘no thanks’ to being attention hacked by AI. Thanks to the
Social media giants urged to tackle data-scraping privacy risks
A joint statement signed by regulators at a dozen international privacy watchdogs, including the U.K.’s ICO, Canada’s OPC and Hong Kong’s OPCPD, has urged mainstream social media pla
Google to go further on ads transparency and data access for researchers as EU digital rulebook reboot kicks in
Google has said it will increase how much information it provides about ads targeted at users in the European Union. It is also expanding data access to third party researchers studying systemic conte
Snap confirms EU users will soon be able to opt out of content ‘personalization’
Snap has become the latest mainstream social media firm to trail incoming changes in Europe that include the ability for users of its messaging app to switch off tracking-based content personalization
Meta confirms AI ‘off-switch’ incoming to Facebook, Instagram in Europe
Meta has confirmed that non-personalized content feeds are incoming on Facebook and Instagram in the European Union ahead of the August 25 deadline for compliance with the bloc’s rebooted digita
UK’s CMA confirms decision to block Microsoft-Activision but opens fresh probe of restructured deal proposal
The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has confirmed its April decision to block the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision gaming mega-merger — rejecting arguments by Microsoft that it should overtur
Ultrahuman Ring Air review
Indian fitness and nutrition tracking startup Ultrahuman has fast-followed its debut smart ring last year with a second generation of the device — which officially launched in June. The new sma
Zoom knots itself a legal tangle over use of customer data for training AI models
Three years ago Zoom settled with the FTC over a claim of deceptive marketing around security claims, having been accused of overstating the strength of the encryption it offered. Now the videoconfere
Coming soon to TikTok in Europe: A ‘For You’ feed without the TikTok algorithm
Get ready for a version of TikTok you’ve never seen before! Without the hyper-sticky, AI-driven ‘For You’ feed… The video sharing platform has announced that TikTok users in t
AFP sues Musk’s X for refusing to enter news reuse payment talks
Elon Musk–owned X, formerly Twitter, is facing legal action brought under copyright law in France. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency has announced it’s suing the social media platform
UK privacy watchdog warns Meta over plan to keep denying Brits a choice over its ad tracking
The U.K.’s data protection watchdog has responded to Meta’s announcement yesterday that it intends to offer (other) Europeans a free choice to deny its tracking-for-ad-targeting but won
Meta says it will offer Europeans a free choice to deny tracking
Meta is bowing to legal inevitability in the European Union: It’s just announced it will finally comply with regional privacy regulations by giving users a free choice to deny its behavioral adv
BBC is testing being on Mastodon, says fediverse better fit for public purposes than Twitter or Threads
In another sign of shifting forces in the social media universe, the U.K.’s national public service broadcaster, the BBC, is dipping a toe into the fediverse by setting up its own Mastodon insta
Italy accepts data portability offer from Google to settle antitrust complaint
Italy’s competition authority has settled a probe of Google focused on data portability after accepting commitments from the tech giant that look set to make it easier for users to take their da
Worldcoin’s official launch triggers swift privacy scrutiny in Europe
Worldcoin, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s bid to sew up the market for verifying humanness by convincing enough mobile meatsacks to have their eyeballs scanned in exchanged for crypto tokens (yes, real
EU opens competition probe of Microsoft bundling Teams with Office 365
The European Union has finally announced a formal antitrust investigation of Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The move comes two years after rival workplace comms
Ecosia adds a train travel search tool powered by Omio
Looking to ride the tracks of increasing demand for longer distance train travel that’s being fuelled by climate-concerned consumers seeking to shrink the environmental impact of their trips, tr
Amazon makes bid to settle UK antitrust probe into seller data, Buy Box and Prime
In a move seeking to settle an open antitrust investigation in the U.K., Amazon has offered to limit its use of data on marketplace sellers so its retail business cannot gain an unfair advantage over
Meta firms fined in Australia over ‘Onavo Protect’ consumer protection breach
Remember Onavo? The Israeli mobile market intelligence company that Meta (aka Facebook) bought back in 2013 and used to power a free VPN/data management app which claimed to users it would help protec