Apple’s ATT under investigation in Germany
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework is under review by the Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s national competition regulatory agency. The investigation started due to concerns that Apple’s privacy framework user-tracking may have anti-competitive effects. The ATT has a pre-requisite for user-tracking by third-party apps that may be exploited to boost services from Apply. At the center of the investigation is the tech company’s framework that blocks third-party apps from accessing data used for targeted advertising. However, Apple has unrestricted access to the same data.
An update on the proposed US Federal Privacy Law
The US House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing last June 14, 2022, for the proposed American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA). Although currently, it is a discussion draft, not an official bill, committee members from both sides expressed their support for ADPPA. The proposed federal privacy law has received bipartisan backing in the Senate, and so far, the privacy bill has a leading chance of becoming law.
Source: Lexology
Big Tech privacy cases to be handled by EDPB
The head of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has called for cross-border Big Tech privacy cases should be handed over by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) due to the wear enforcement of landmark rules four years ago. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has received criticism due to pro-longed investigations with hardly any decisions and costs of compliance. The Irish regulator, which handles the cases of Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, and Twitter, has also received its share of criticisms due to slow enforcement. Entrusting Big Tech cases to the EDPB will need changes in the GDPR rules, which is considered an improbable move for the European Commission due to lack of time.
