Visa Adds New Way to Share Customer Shopping Data With Retailers
www.bnnbloomberg.ca

... Visa Inc. is rolling out new technology that will allow the payments giant to share more information about customers' preferences based on their shopping history with retailers as it seeks to remain a top player in the competitive e-commerce space. ...

Microsoft Outlook Is Now Spyware That Shares Your Data With 801 Companies
www.webpronews.com

... Microsoft is once again under fire for its efforts to monetize users at the expense of privacy, this time by mining data from Outlook and sharing it with 801 other companies.

Proton, makers of the popular private and secure ProtonMail service, are calling Microsoft out for the latest terms and conditions when installing Outlook for Windows. The new dialog comes courtesy of the EU, where stricter laws require companies to disclose how a person's data will be used. Unfortunately, US users will never see this dialog box"since the US has no comprehensive privacy legislation"even though Microsoft will still proceed with data collection and sharing.

When a user installs Outlook for Windows, they are greeted with the following message:

We and our 801 partners (emphasis ours) process data to: store and/or access information on your device, develop and improve products, personalize ads and content, measure ads and content, derive audience insights, obtain precise geolocation data, and identify users through device scanning. Some third parties may process your data on the basis of their legitimate interest.

Again, Microsoft and its 801 partner companies can:

Access information on your device
Personalize ads
Derive audience insights
Obtain users' exact location
Identify users by the data on their device
Microsoft says third parties can do whatever they need to in the pursuit "of their legitimate interests"

Concerns over addicted kids spur probe into Meta and its use of dark patterns
arstechnica.com

... Brussels has opened an in-depth probe into Meta over concerns it is failing to do enough to protect children from becoming addicted to social media platforms such as Instagram.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, announced on Thursday it would look into whether the Silicon Valley giant's apps were reinforcing "rabbit hole" effects, where users get drawn ever deeper into online feeds and topics.

EU investigators will also look into whether Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is complying with legal obligations to provide appropriate age-verification tools to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content.

The probe is the second into the company under the EU's Digital Services Act. The landmark legislation is designed to police content online, with sweeping new rules on the protection of minors.

It also has mechanisms to force Internet platforms to reveal how they are tackling misinformation and propaganda.

The DSA, which was approved last year, imposes new obligations on very large online platforms with more than 45 million users in the EU. If Meta is found to have broken the law, Brussels can impose fines of up to 6 percent of a company's global annual turnover.

Repeat offenders can even face bans in the single market as an extreme measure to enforce the rules. ...

EU opens child safety probes of Facebook and Instagram, citing addictive design concerns
techcrunch.com

... Facebook and Instagram are under formal investigation in the European Union over child protection concerns, the Commission announced Thursday. The proceedings follow a raft of requests for information to parent entity Meta since the bloc's online governance regime, the Digital Services Act (DSA), started applying last August.

The development could be significant as the formal proceedings unlock additional investigatory powers for EU enforcers, such as the ability to conduct office inspections or apply interim measures. Penalties for any confirmed breaches of the DSA could reach up to 6% of Meta's global annual turnover. ...

Court upholds geofence' warrant that led to suspect's cellphone (April 2024)
minnlawyer.com

... The Minnesota Court of Appeals had held that geofence warrants are not categorically prohibited by the U.S. and Minnesota constitutions. In a unanimous ruling, the court held, in State of Minnesota v. Ivan Contreras-Sanchez, that these warrants can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Geofencing uses GPS or RFID technology to make a virtual boundary. Software can be used to determine if a mobile device enters or leaves an area within the boundaries.

It is becoming a more common tool used by law enforcement to figure out who was within a "geofence" during a particular timeframe. Law enforcement uses these geofence warrants to get information that can identify those involved in a crime.

Notably, Minneapolis police got a search warrant to order Google to provide account data or anyone within the geographic region of an AutoZone store in south Minneapolis after the building was vandalized following the murder of George Floyd. ...