Category: Margrethe Vestager
Europe urged to block Google-Fitbit ahead of major digital policy overhaul
The European Commission must block the Google -Fitbit merger as a matter of democratic imperative, prominent academic and author Shoshana Zuboff has warned. The Harvard professor who wrote the defining book on surveillance capitalism has become the latest voice raised against the $2.1BN data+devices deal — that’s now been delayed…
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No Google-Fitbit merger without human rights remedies, says Amnesty to EU
Human rights NGO, Amnesty International, has written to the EU’s competition regulator calling for Google’s acquisition of wearable maker Fitbit to be blocked — unless meaningful safeguards can be baked in. The tech giant announced its intent to splash $2.1BN to acquire Fitbit a year ago but has yet to…
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Europe urges e-commerce platforms to share data in fight against coronavirus scams
European lawmakers are pressing major e-commerce and media platforms to share more data with each other as a tool to fight rogue traders who are targeting consumers with coronavirus scams. After the pandemic spread to the West, internet platforms were flooded with local ads for PPE of unknown and/or dubious…
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Europe asks for views on platform governance and competition tools
The European Commission is asking for views on how online platforms should be regulated in future, launching a public consultation today on the forthcoming Digital Services Act (DSA). This pan-EU legislative proposal, due before the end of the year, is slated to rework the regional rulebook for digital services, including…
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Call for EU state aid rules to flex for startups
European startups are calling for more flexibility in EU state aid rules to allow national governments to provide liquidity for the region’s fledgling digital businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. In a joint letter addressed to Commission EVP Margrethe Vestager, more than a dozen startup associations from across the bloc have…
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How will Europe’s coronavirus contacts tracing apps work across borders?
Solutions should allow Member States’ servers to communicate and receive relevant keys between themselves using a trusted and secure mechanism. Roaming users should upload their relevant proximity encounter information to the home country backend. The other Member State(s) should be informed about possible infected or exposed users*. *For roaming users,…
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