"Meta does not appear to clearly and conspicuously describe the data it collects about individuals. It does not have simple, descriptive URLs for these pages—in fact, any single privacy-related document on a Meta website could link to dozens or over 100 other pages and pop-ups that Meta purports provide additional information. Both of these points raise the question of whether Meta is deviating from practices the FTC has indicated are legally required.

Further, the FTC Act prevents deceptive practices in general—defined by FTC policy as “involving a material representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead a consumer acting reasonably in the circumstances.” If any number of pages on the Meta website that claim to provide consumers with information about privacy do not, in fact, provide and present said information in a reasonable manner (or, really, at all), it likewise raises the question of whether Meta might be violating the FTC Act by deceptively designing the layout of its privacy policy information.

Lawmakers working on privacy bills should not forget that substance and layout are important for privacy policies, to avoid these kinds of bad practices that bury information from consumers and regulators, further limit consumers’ ability to consent, and threaten individuals’ ability to exercise their privacy rights."

https://www.techpolicy.press/metas-privacy-policies-designed-badly-by-design/

#USA #EU #BigTech #TechRegulation #TechPolicy #Monopolies #Competition #Antitrust #DataProtection #Privacy: "You’ve spent time in the US, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Can you compare that culture to the European viewpoint?

One of my key insights of having spent time in Silicon Valley is how much of it is about money, rather than actual innovation.

In Europe, people want the success that Silicon Valley has, but not the social inequality, the fallout for society. The idea is that you need some buffer for society’s least wealthy in terms of opportunities. There’s not a great word for that in English, but we have a nice word for that to describe how you can be rich in opportunities.

Gaining access to capital remains a problem in the EU, which is unfortunate. When I look at the “values” lens, I think many in the United States believe that Europeans are adopting these laws because they want to go after American companies.

More often, the deep anchoring in needing to protect people from abuse of power by both companies and governments is much more historically informed. Data protection rules were really put in place because of the Second World War, when information about people, Jews, was weaponized against them. When I served in the European Parliament, there were lots of people who grew up in the Soviet Union, who had, as activists, dissidents, journalists, been profiled by the Stasi.

What we’re unfortunately seeing unfolding is that again in the United States some of these cautionary tales which are not difficult to find, have to hit home before people take them seriously."

https://www.semafor.com/article/10/25/2024/former-european-parliament-member-and-tech-critic-talks-ai-the-politics-of-big-tech

Algorithmic transparency is a priority in social media regulation such as the EU Digital Services Act #dsa. In a recent paper, Paddy Leerssen (UvA #law) brings legal debates on #platform transparency in conversation with insights from critical transparency studies & critical algorithm studies:

https://doi.org/10.34669/wi.wjds/4.2.3

#openaccess via Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society #wjds #research #digital #platform #techregulation

@WZB_Berlin @FOKUSpublic @JWI_CriticalAI

Za każdym razem, gdy #UE wypuszcza nową regulację, komisarz Thierry Breton publikuje playlistę zatytułowaną jak ta regulacja.

Dziś my* mamy playlistę dla komisarza. Dobrze byłoby żyć w świecie zdrowych algorytmów:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/34ymNkUEJ8LcospqjZMeW6?si=28c278cd6c534925&nd=1&dlsi=242d749582824199

*sieć People vs. Big Tech

#fixfeed
#FixOurFeeds
#TechRegulation
#RecommenderSystems
#RecSys
#Algorithms

Fun drinking game for the next 9-12 months: take a shot every time a news article uses the phrase "Section 230" or "chilling effect on free speech" -- that way you'll be in the hospital with liver poisoning instead of having to keep up with all the TikTok news and court challenges

#tiktok #USpol #platformGovernance #regulation #techRegulation

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/23/tiktok-ban-senate-vote-sale-biden/

Android Authority details all the ways Android, Search and Chrome have changed for people living in the EU as tech companies prepare for Europe's Digital Markets Act this week.
https://flip.it/cOlyHr

"But Meta’s version of consent offers users a Hobson’s choice — of paying at least €9.99/month for an ad-free subscription (per each account they have on Facebook and Instagram); or agreeing to its tracking.

No other choices are available, despite the GDPR stipulating that for consent to be a valid legal basis for processing people’s information it must be freely given."

#privacy #DataPrivacy #gdpr #tracking #regulation #TechRegulation #tech #TechNews

https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/15/no-consent-or-pay-pls/

#Senate poised to pass biggest piece of #tech #regulation in decades

After months of negotiations, Senators announced on Thurs that a sprawling bill to expand protections for #children #online had secured over 60 backers, clearing a path to passage for what would be the most significant congressional attempt in decades to regulate tech companies.

#KOSA #law #TechRegulation #privacy #safety #depression #SexualExploitation #bullying #harassment
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/15/kids-online-safety-act-kosa-senate/

"We can reverse the enshittification of the internet. We can halt the creeping enshittification of every digital device.

We can build a better, enshittification-resistant digital nervous system, one that is fit to coordinate the mass movements we will need to fight fascism, end genocide, and save our planet and our species."

#CoryDoctorow, 2024

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel