Natasha Lomas
TechCrunch
Philippines
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Recent articles by Natasha:
Legl, a SaaS for law firm workflows, tops up with $18M –
Legl startup sells tools to law firms to digitize processes and automate workflows for client onboarding, payments and compliance for modern customer experience → Read More
Musk says Twitter deal is dead unless CEO can prove spam stats
In a new tweet fired at Twitter before market open, Elon Musk has reiterated that his $44BN deal to buy the social media platform is on hold over the issue of spambots. But now he’s tacitly accusing the company of lying over the proportion of fake/spam accounts on the platform, claiming its CEO “publicly refused […] → Read More
Google faces fresh class action-style suit in UK over DeepMind NHS patient data scandal
Google is facing a new class-action style lawsuit in the UK in relation to a health data scandal that broke back in 2016, when it emerged that its AI division, DeepMind, had been passed data on more than a million patients as part of an app development project by the Royal Free NHS Trust in […] → Read More
Report spotlights vast scale of adtech’s ‘biggest data breach’
New data about the real-time-bidding (RTB) system’s use of web users’ info for tracking and ad targeting, released today by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), suggests Google and other key players in the high velocity, surveillance-based ad auction system are processing and passing people’s data billions of times per day. “RTB is the […] → Read More
Europe’s CSAM scanning plan unpicked –
The European Union has formally presented its proposal to move from a situation in which some tech platforms voluntarily scan for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to something more systematic — publishing draft legislation that will create a framework which could obligate digital services to use automated technologies to detect and report existing or new […] → Read More
UK opts for slow reboot of Big Tech rules, pushes ahead on privacy ‘reforms’
The UK government has confirmed it will move forward on a major ex ante competition reform aimed at Big Tech, as it set out its priorities for the new parliamentary session earlier today. However it has only said that draft legislation will be published over this period — booting the prospect of passing updated competition […] → Read More
Elon Musk gives Europe’s speech platform rules the thumbs up –
While the world continues to wonder what ‘free speech absolutist‘ and gadfly billionaire Elon Musk might mean for the future of Twitter, the European Union has chalked up an early PR win in the long game of platform regulation — extracting agreement from the Tesla founder with its freshly rebooted approach toward content policy. EU […] → Read More
PocketLaw, a contract automation SaaS for SMEs, secures Atomico’s support
Swedish startup PocketLaw — a contract automation software-as-a-service legal tech platform which is mainly focused on SMEs — has pocketed €10 million (~$11M) in Series A funding led by European VC firm, Atomico, to fuel expansion in Europe. Ben Blume, partner at the venture capital firm, is joining the board as part of the investment. The round […] → Read More
UK’s Big Tech regulator ‘to boost switching, cut killer acquisitions’
Just over a year after launching a dedicated unit focused on digital markets inside the national competition watchdog, the UK government has put some meat on the bones of what this new Big Tech regulator will focus on — including confirming it will have the ability to levy fines of up to 10% of global […] → Read More
EU’s new rules for Big Tech will come into force in Spring 2023, says Vestager
The European Union’s flagship reform for tackling Big Tech platform power, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), will come into force in early 2023, Commission EVP Margrethe Vestager has said — rowing back from an earlier suggested timeframe of this fall. But she also implied that enforcements against unruly Internet “gatekeepers” could flow soon after the […] → Read More
Sidekick Health grabs $55M for digital first care programs –
Digital therapeutics plus pills? Iceland’s Sidekick Health has developed a gamified digital care platform that’s designed to support healthcare outcomes by applying personalized behavioral lifestyle nudges, including alongside clinical treatments like drugs, to augment, extend and suppo… → Read More
Match Group Google Play Store complaint triggers Dutch antitrust probe
A competition complaint against Google’s Android Play Store by Match Group, the company which owns Tinder and a number of other dating apps, has led to a preliminary investigation by the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) into whether the tech giant is abusing a dominant position, the regulator said today. Match Group declined […] → Read More
Fleksy switches to a SaaS model for its custom keyboard tech –
Keyboard startup Fleksy has launched a new self-serve SDK to expand its reach for indie developers wanting to add custom keyboard software to their apps. The Barcelona-based mobile keyboard software maker has been pursuing a white label licensing approach to selling its customizable keyboard tech for several years but it’s now looking to expand its […] → Read More
UK parliament invites Twitter-lovin’ Musk to talk ‘authenticating all humans’
The British parliament has invited Elon Musk to “discuss the future of Twitter” because we live in deeply wild times. If Musk agrees to speak to parliamentarians on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee — even virtually — he will be going further than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who (in)famously snubbed repeat calls […] → Read More
Meta faces years of tougher antitrust oversight in Germany –
Facebook’s rebranded parent, Meta, has become the next tech giant to be confirmed as subject to a special competition abuse control regime in Germany, following a 2021 update to its digital competition rules that are focused on large digital companies which are considered to be of “paramount significance for competition across markets”, as the law […] → Read More
Google touts more Workspace controls for users in Europe –
Google has announced a package of additional controls for users of its productivity suite, Google Workspace (neé G Suite), in Europe — which it’s rolling out by the end of this year and next. It says these extra control will enable organizations — both public and private sector — to “control, limit, and monitor transfers […] → Read More
Back pain? This app uses your webcam to detect bad posture and says it doesn’t spy…
Are you slouching at your desk again? There’s an app for that… Zen uses posture mirroring software to help information workers stop hunching over their desks — sending alerts when it detects you’re not sitting up straight so you can correct your posture and, hopefully, avoid a lifetime of back problems. The catch? It uses […] → Read More
Europe’s top court unblocks more GDPR litigation against Big Tech –
A ruling by the European Union’s top court today is set to unblock a raft of litigation brought by consumer protection organizations seeking to apply the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standard against tech giants such as Facebook and Twitter over issues like whether they gather properly informed consent to process people’s data. In […] → Read More
Yandex signs deal with VK to sell its media products, News and Zen
In further fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yandex, the company that’s sometimes referred to as the ‘Google of Russia’, has signed a term sheet to sell its media division to VKontakte (VK), aka the local Facebook equivalent. Yandex confirmed it has signed a term sheet to divest its news aggregator (News) and blogging/infotainment platform […] → Read More
Leaked Facebook ads document raises fresh questions over GDPR enforcement
Motherboard/Vice had an explosive report on Facebook’s business yesterday that’s sure to raise fresh questions over the lack of enforcement of European privacy laws against the adtech giant. The report is based on a leaked internal document written last year by privacy engineers on its Ad and Business product team. The document, which is entitled […] → Read More