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The European Union led by its Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager has concluded an investigation onto what they say is an antitrust case regarding Android mobile devices which they say was designed to strengthen the dominance of Google’s Search Engine. It is because of this that they have fined Google a massive €4.3b or about $5b . [xyz-ihs snippet="EU-fines-google-5b"] Google they say has forced phone makers over the years to include its own apps in their devices and the EU has determined that this practise is unfair and has given Google an undue advantage over its competitors. This is the second time in two years that the European regulators would be slamming a fine in the billions on the American tech giant. Back in June 2017, Google was fined $2.7b for unfairly redirecting users to its own shopping platform before it gives others a choice. This means that Google was accused of relegating links of rival services to areas where users are less likely to click w...

Ahead of the new EU data regulations which will take effect on May 25, the instant messaging app, WhatsApp which is also owned by Facebook Inc. is raising the minimum age limit to 16 in the European Union. The European Union"s General Data Protection Regulation, (GPDR) will accord users the control over how their data is used as regards the information they supply to internet-based companies. The new law will also take cognizance of kids who use platforms like WhatsApp. Since the platform does not verify users" ages before accessing their site, it will now to obliged to make an effort to ensure that a parent has given permission or authorization for their kids or wards to use the online service. This new law applies to users below 16. Other countries aside the UK will maintain the cut-off age at 13.  Read more: The New European Privacy Laws Will Not Protect The Other 1.5 Billion Facebook Users The app currently allows users from the age of 13 to use the app but will begin to ...

In the newly changed terms of service, 1.5 billion members will be unprotected under the strict rules coming to Europe. The new policies follow a series of questions from lawmakers and regulators in the past week, concerning how the social network handles users" information. Facebook users outside the EU will be governed by Facebook Inc. in the US other than the company in Ireland. This automatically sees that over 70% of the users outside the EU are unprotected. This may be a move by Facebook to continuously control users" data or better still, avoid applying the EU"s stringent rules. In December, Facebook"s statistics showed that the social network had 239 million active users in the US and Canada, 370 million in Europe and 1.5 billion users in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Australia. This vividly explains that Facebook still has a superior power over the majority number of users. Although Facebook claims to apply the same rules for its users regardless of their...

Facebook Inc. is set to create another controversy. Knowing fully well about the stringent rules in Canada and Europe, the social network is asking them to allow users the option to use its facial recognition technology. The facial recognition technology rolled out in 2011 but was disconnected from Canadian and European citizens a year after, following protests from privacy advocates and regulators. The new EU regulation which would take effect next month ensures that privacy rules are stricter, disapproves of pre-ticked-boxes for user-consent and increases the fine for organisations that fail to comply with any of the rules. With Facebook"s new system, there"s a box for users to tick if they choose to "accept and continue" with the face recognition technology and another option for "manage data settings" to turn off the setting. Read more: Facebook Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Its Facial Recognition Technology Moreover, under 18s will not be included i...

As data protection and privacy becomes a big issue around the world, social networking companies like Instagram need to appropriately take care of the information its user’s share. One of the provisions of the UK"s upcoming Data Protection Bill would require companies to allow its users to easily move their data from one service to another. To that end, Facebook-owned Instagram just confirmed to TechCrunch that it is building a new data portability tool so users can download a copy of everything they"ve put on the platform , including photos, videos and messages , similar to how Facebook’s download your information tool works. The tool could help Instagram users monitor how much of their data is on the platform. It will also help Facebook, which owns Instagram, comply with the forthcoming European data privacy rule, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will require all data to be portable. The rule will also require companies to delete data upon user request. Fac...

Facebook boss, Mark Zuckerberg admitted on Tuesday that he was in total agreement with the European privacy laws but that every time he came close to abiding by the rules, he failed. The tech company is currently under pressure to improve privacy to prevent the scandal which is negatively affected it in the stock market. About 50 million users" data was harvested and was used during the 2016 elections by Cambridge Analytica. Apple CEO, Tim Cook last month accused Facebook of monetising customers. Tim Cook argued that a third party should not have access to customers" private information and neither should they have the ability to know what a user has been browsing for years, their likes and every other detail. He proposed further that Facebook is guilty of privacy invasion. Referencing Apple, he said, " We could make a tonne of money if we monetised our customer if our customer was our product. We"ve elected not to do that; privacy to us is a human right." This...