Surveillance Capitalism

The West’s Battle Against TikTok

February 08, 2023

According to the Guardian, TikTok has been making headlines in the West, both in the U.S. and Europe, as each attempt to battle the data harvesting and promotion of China’s worldview through an overhaul of data privacy laws and bans on the social media application.
U.S. Data Privacy Laws will Evolve in 2023

January 18, 2023

The U.S. will continue to see in 2023 the evolution of the philosophy behind data privacy laws shifting to a « rights-based » approach used by the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where individuals own their personal data and have control over where it goes.
The Guardian: TikTok tells European Users its Staff in China Has Access to Their Data

November 07, 2022

TikTok, a Chinese-owned social video app, has informed its European users that with the new privacy policy their data can be accessed by employees outside the continent, including in China.
MIT Technology Review: The Chinese Surveillance State Proves the Idea of Privacy is Malleable

October 11, 2022

The authors of « Surveillance State », Wall Street Journal reporters Josh Chin and Liza Lin discuss how China has redefined the concept of privacy and how that affects the West and the future of surveillance tech.
Texas Social-Media Law Upheld by Federal Appeals Court

September 20, 2022

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the validity of a Texas social media law that prevents tech giants, including Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter Inc. from censoring and discriminating on the basis of viewpoint.
Top EU Court Upholds EU Antitrust Decision Against Google

September 14, 2022

The European Commission has upheld the recent decision against Google, ruling that the tech giant broke competition rules and was fined 4.1 billion euros.
U.S. Regulator Sues Data Broker Over Sale of Consumer Location Information

August 30, 2022

Adtech group Kochava, a data broker that measures the effectiveness of mobile marketing, has been sued by the US Federal Trade Commission for selling location data from millions of mobile users that could be used to trace individuals’ movements.
Concerns over Privacy after Two New Amazon Acquisitions

August 29, 2022

Amazon expands its Empire by acquiring One Medical and iRobot, leading to concerns about the companies growing capacity to surveil consumers.
Spectator Australia: Australia’s corporate Surveillance State

June 22, 2022

In Australia it was recently discovered by consumer group Choice that multiple corporations including Kmart and Bunnings Warehouse refer to facial recognition in their privacy policies and may have been using facial recognition technology, ‘capturing the biometric data of their customers’.
Meta Challenges Authority of German Regulator at Top EU Court

May 11, 2022

Meta has challenged in the European Court of Justice a 2019 decision by the German competition authority that found 95% of Facebook’s market share in Germany allowed the company to violate data privacy rules.