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…

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…

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…

EU Commission Proposal for AI Regulation

On 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…