Data Protection Commission
This Week in Apps: Apple’s event brings a ‘Dynamic Island,’ new widgets and iOS 16
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. Global app spending reached $65 billion in th
Instagram fined €405M in EU over children’s privacy
A fat fine — of €405 million — is headed Instagram’s way after European Union privacy regulators came to a decision on a long-running complaint related to how the social media plat
Twitter faces privacy scrutiny from EU watchdogs after Mudge report
The explosive Twitter whistleblower complaint that was made public yesterday — detailing a raft of damning allegations across security, privacy and data protection issues (among others) by Twitt
Italy warns TikTok over privacy policy switch
TikTok’s attempt to switch legal basis for targeting advertising at users in Europe looks to be in trouble after Italy’s data protection watchdog stepped in and issued a warning of legal inadequac
Summer decision looms for Facebook’s EU-US data transfers
The wheels of privacy enforcement are slowly turning against Facebook in Europe — where its lead data protection regulator, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), has taken a key proc
Google’s ‘deceptive’ account sign-up process targeted with GDPR complaints
Consumer rights groups in Europe have filed a new series of privacy complaints against Google — accusing the advertising giant of deceptive design around the account creation process that they say s
After EU child safety complaints, TikTok tweaks ad disclosures but profiling concerns remain
A long-running EU engagement with TikTok — initiated following a series of complaints over child safety and consumer protection complaints filed back in February 2021 — has ended, for now,
Spain slaps Google for frustrating the EU’s ‘right to be forgotten’
Here’s a rare sight: Google has been hit with a €10 million fine by Spain for serious breaches of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which found it had passed
Report reveals Big Tech’s last minute lobbying to weaken EU rules
A new report has peeled back the curtain on big tech’s frenzied lobbying of European Union lawmakers as they finalize a major series of updates to the bloc’s digital rulebook. It reveals s
Ex-Apple employee takes Face ID privacy complaint to Europe
Privacy watchdogs in Europe are considering a complaint against Apple made by a former employee, Ashley Gjøvik, who alleges the company fired her after she raised a number of concerns, internally and
TikTok delays opening of first European data center again
TikTok has once again delayed the timeline for opening its first data center in the European Union, in Dublin, Ireland — saying the facility is now not expected to be fully operational until nex
Ireland’s privacy watchdog sued for inaction over ‘massive Google data breach’
Ireland’s evasive response to a major security complaint filed against Google’s adtech the year the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into application i
Meta sent a new draft decision on its EU-US data transfers
Facebook has received a “revised” preliminary decision from its lead EU privacy regulator with implications for its ability to continue to export user data to the US, TechCrunch has learne
WhatsApp quizzed over consumer protection concerns in EU
Remember the backlash over that impossible-to-understand privacy policy update pushed out by WhatsApp last year? A consumer protection complaint over the messaging platform’s aggressive push to
EU warns adtech giants over ‘legal tricks’ as it moots changes to centralize privacy oversight
The European Commission has given its clearest signal yet that it’s prepared to intervene over weak enforcement of the EU’s data protection rules against big tech. Today the bloc’s e
European Parliament’s IMCO backs limits on tech giants’ ability to run tracking ads
In what looks like bad news for adtech giants like Facebook and Google, MEPs in the European Parliament have voted for tougher restrictions on how internet users’ data can be combined for ad tar
Facebook’s lead EU privacy supervisor hit with corruption complaint
Facebook’s problems with European privacy law could be about to get a whole lot worse. But ahead of what may soon be a major (and long overdue) regulatory showdown over the legality of its surve
Inside a European push to outlaw creepy ads
European Union lawmakers are mobilizing support for a ban on tracking-based advertising to be added to a new set of Internet rules for the bloc — which were proposed at the back end of last yea
Researchers show Facebook’s ad tools can target a single user
A new research paper written by a team of academics and computer scientists from Spain and Austria has demonstrated that it’s possible to use Facebook’s targeting tools to deliver an ad ex
Facebook warned over ‘very small’ indicator LED on smart glasses, as EU DPAs flag privacy concerns
Facebook’s lead privacy regulator in Europe has raised concerns about a pair of “smart” Ray-Ban sunglasses the tech giant is now selling. The glasses include a face-mounted camera th