The European Commission adopts adequacy decision for the UK

The European Commission (“EC”) has announced as of 28 June the formal adoption of two adequacy decisions for the United Kingdom under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Law Enforcement Directives (LEDs). The adequacy decisions recognise the UK’s personal data safeguards as being strong and will allow UK entities to continue to receive personal data from the EEA without restriction (i.e. without…

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European Commission opens investigation into Google’s conduct in online advertising technology sector

The European Commission has today announced the opening of an investigation into Google’s conduct in the online advertising technology sector.The Commission has indicated that it is concerned Google may be violating EU competition rules by favouring its own online display advertising technology services. The investigation will, in particular, examine whether Google is distorting competition by…

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CMA launches consultation on proposed commitments from Google in ‘Privacy Sandbox’ investigation

On Friday 11 June 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) announced that it was minded to accept undertakings from Google to settle its antitrust investigation into the company regarding its ‘Privacy Sandbox’ proposals. The CMA launched its investigation in January 2021, following complaints from industry, including Marketers for an Open Web, a consortium of…

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Bundeskartellamt announced Google News Showcase antitrust investigation

The German Competition Regulator, the Bundeskartellamt, has today announced an investigation into Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, in relation to Google’s News Showcase. The News Showcase is a platform through which publisher news content is available via a Google news website or app. It appears that the Bundeskartellamt concerns relate to whether the tech giant…

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Both CMA and European Commission announce antitrust investigations into Facebook

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) and the European Commission (“EC”) have both announced antitrust investigations into Facebook today. The CMA announcement indicates that the investigation will focus on “whether Facebook has gained an unfair advantage over competitors in providing services for online classified ads and online dating, through how it gathers and uses…

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Bundeskartellamt opens investigation into Google

The Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s National Competition Authority, has announced the opening of an investigation into Google in relation to its data collection practices. The investigation will consider whether Google Germany, Google Ireland, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, handle data in a way that constitutes abuse of a dominant market position. The Bundeskartellamt press release indicates that…

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