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…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsFrom the 1st of July, the NHS plans to collect and share patients’ data. Individuals are given until the 23rd of June to opt out by filling out a form and returning it to their GP practice. Opting out after this deadline can only be done in relation to future data. The plan is to…
DetailsOn 21 April 2021, the European Commission issued a draft proposal for a regulation on AI systems, the first self-standing legal framework regulating AI. The regulation has a broad scope, imposing obligations on businesses in almost all sectors of the economy. It will not be adopted by UK law, but the regulation does have extra-territorial…
DetailsOn 19 May 2021, the UK’s national competition authority, the CMA, and its data protection authority, the ICO, published a joint statement on finding a balance between competition law and privacy law when approaching digital markets. The statement highlights the overlapping importance of protecting both personal data and competition in the digital markets, and more…
DetailsOn May 6, Microsoft released its plan to support customers by enabling them to “process and store all their data in the EU”, which should be ready by the end of 2022. Microsoft seems to be reacting to the market’s needs following the Schrems II decision (see below). Microsoft is calling this plan the EU Data Boundary…
DetailsFollowing the Queen’s speech last week, the UK Government has published the Online Safety Bill (the “Bill”), draft legislation aimed at tackling a range of ‘online harms’. The Bill includes the imposition of a duty of care on tech players, such as social media platforms, under which they would be required to take down “illegal”…
DetailsOn 5 February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the case of R (on the application of KBR, Inc) (Appellant) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office (Respondent) [2021] UKSC 2 (“KBR v SFO”). The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (“CJA 1987”) does not…
DetailsOn 30 April 2021, the European Commission announced that it has issued Apple with a Statement of Objections, setting out its preliminary view that it has distorted competition in the music streaming market and abused its dominant position for the distribution of music streaming apps through the Apple App Store. The announcement follows an investigation…
DetailsAccording to the Department for Transport, Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) technology could legally be defined as self-driving if: * they receive GB type approval; and * there is no evidence to challenge the vehicle’s ability to self-drive. ALKS is designed for a slow traffic motorway. ALKS allows a vehicle to drive itself in a…
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