Natasha Lomas
TechCrunch
Philippines
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Recent articles by Natasha:
Amsterdam ejects Airbnb el at from three central districts in latest p2p platform limits –
Another brick in the wall for vacation rental platforms: Amsterdam is booting Airbnb and other such platforms from three districts in the city’s old center from July 1, further tightening its rules for such services. In other districts in the famous city of canals, vacation rentals will only be permitted with a permit from next Wednesday, […] → Read More
Privacy not a blocker for “meaningful” research access to platform data, says report –
European lawmakers are eyeing binding transparency requirements for Internet platforms in a Digital Services Act (DSA) due to be drafted by the end of the year. But the question of how to create governance structures that provide regulators and researchers with meaningful access to data so platforms can be held accountable for the content they’re […] → Read More
GDPR’s two-year review flags lack of “vigorous” enforcement –
It’s more than two years since a flagship update to the European Union’s data protection regime moved into the application phase. Yet the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been dogged by criticism of a failure of enforcement related to major cross-border complaints — lending weight to critics who claim the legislation has created a […] → Read More
How will EC plans to reboot rules for digital services impact startups? –
There's a chance for broader perspectives on platform power to shape the next decades online, and much more besides. → Read More
Antitrust case against Facebook’s ‘super profiling’ back on track after German federal court ruling –
A landmark regulatory intervention that seeks to apply structural antitrust remedies to cut big (ad)tech’s rights-hostile surveillance business models down to size has been revived after Germany’s federal court overturned an earlier ruling that had suspended enforcement of a ban on Facebook combining user data. The upshot is the tech giant could be forced to […] → Read More
On illegal hate speech, EU lawmakers eye binding transparency for platforms –
It’s more than four years since major tech platforms signed up to a voluntary pan-EU Code of Conduct on illegal hate speech removals. Yesterday the European Commission’s latest assessment of the non-legally binding agreement lauds “overall positive” results — with 90% of flagged content assessed within 24 hours and 71% of the content deemed to […] → Read More
Apple approves Hey bug fix update after Basecamp agrees to tweak app at center of store policy spat –
A high profile spat between Apple and Basecamp over the latter’s hosted email service, Hey, has ended in a temporary truce — just hours before the iOS maker’s annual developer shindig, WWDC, kicks off. In a blog post today Basecamp confirmed a pending bug fix update was approved late Friday — quoting an email Apple […] → Read More
TikTok joins the EU’s Code of Practice on disinformation –
TikTok is the latest platform to sign up the European Union’s Code of Practice on disinformation, agreeing to a set of voluntary steps aimed at combating the spread of damaging fakes and falsehoods online. The short video sharing platform, which is developed by Beijing based ByteDance and topped 2BN downloads earlier this year, is hugely […] → Read More
Telegram pledges to make anti-censorship tools for Iran and China –
The encrypted instant messenger Telegram said on Monday it’s ramping up efforts to develop anti-censorship technologies serving users in countries where it is banned or partially blocked, including China and Iran. “Over the course of the last two years, we had to regularly upgrade our ‘unblocking’ technology to stay ahead of the censors… We don’t […] → Read More
French court slaps down Google’s appeal against $57M GDPR fine –
France’s top court for administrative law has dismissed Google’s appeal against a $57M fine issued by the data watchdog last year for not making it clear enough to Android users how it processes their personal information. The State Council issued the decision today, affirming the data watchdog CNIL’s earlier finding that Google did not provide […] → Read More
Germany tightens online hate speech rules to make platforms send reports straight to the feds –
While a French online hate speech law has just been derailed by the country’s top constitutional authority on freedom of expression grounds, Germany is beefing up hate speech rules — passing a provision that will require platforms to send suspected criminal content directly to the Federal police at the point it’s reported by a user. […] → Read More
Kaia Health gets $26M to show it can do more with digital therapeutics –
Kaia Health, a digital therapeutics startup which uses computer vision technology for real-time posture tracking via the smartphone camera to deliver human-hands-free physiotherapy, has closed a $26 million Series B funding round. The funding was led by Optum Ventures, Idinvest and capital300 with participation from existing investors Balderton Capital and Heartcore Capital, in addition to […] → Read More
EU digs in on digital tax plan, after US quits talks –
The European Commission has reiterated its commitment to pushing ahead with a regional plan for taxing digital services after the US quit talks aimed at finding agreement on reforming tax rules — ramping up the prospects of a trade war. Yesterday talks between the EU and the US on a digital services tax broke down […] → Read More
Zoom U-turns on no e2e encryption for free users –
In a major security U-turn, videoconferencing platform Zoom has said it will, after all, offer end-to-end encryption to all users — including those who do not pay to use its service. The caveat is that free users must provide certain “additional” pieces of information for verification purposes (such as a phone number where they can […] → Read More
Security decoy startup CounterCraft closes $5M Series A –
Spain-based CounterCraft, which builds b2b tools for gathering counterintelligence on evolving security threats, has closed a $5M Series A. The all cash round is led by Adara Ventures, with eCAPITAL and Red Eléctrica Group joining as new investors, and with participation from existing backers including Evolution Equity, ORZA, and Wayra. CounterCraft was founded back in […] → Read More
EU states agree a tech spec for national coronavirus apps to work across borders –
European Union countries and the Commission have agreed on a technical framework to enable regional coronavirus contacts tracing apps to work across national borders. A number of European countries have launched contacts tracing apps at this point, with the aim of leveraging smartphone technologies in the fight against COVID-19, but none of these apps can […] → Read More
Apple Pay and iOS App Store under formal antitrust probe in Europe –
Apple is under formal investigation by antitrust regulators in European Union — following a number of complaints related to how it operates the iOS App Store and also its payment offering, Apple Pay. The Commission said today that it has concerns that conditions and restrictions applied by the tech giant may be distorting competition in […] → Read More
Basecamp launches Hey, a hosted email service for neat freaks –
Project management software maker Basecamp has launched a feature-packed hosted email service, called Hey — which they tout as taking aim at the traditional chaos and clutter of the email inbox. Two years of work comes alive today. Couldn’t be more proud of our team. It wasn’t easy, but it was incredibly fun. And today […] → Read More
Swappie bags $40.6M to sell more secondhand iPhones across Europe –
Finland-based Swappie has closed a €35.8 million ($40.6M) Series B to expand into new markets in Europe. The ecommerce business refurbishes and resells used iPhones, taking care of the entire process from testing and repairing used handsets, to selling the refurbished devices via its own marketplace, with a 12-month warranty. Local VC and private equity […] → Read More
Norway pulls its coronavirus contacts tracing app after privacy watchdog’s warning –
One of the first national coronavirus contacts tracing apps to be launched in Europe is being suspended in Norway after the country’s data protection authority raised concerns that the software, called ‘Smittestopp’, poses a disproportionate threat to user privacy — including by continuously uploading people’s location. Following a warning from the watchdog Friday, the Norwegian […] → Read More