Tag Archives: Google

France fines Google and Facebook for pushing tracking cookies on users with dark patterns

France fines Google and Facebook for pushing tracking cookies on users with dark patterns

If you ever feel like websites have turned the simple business of rejecting tracking cookies into a labyrinthine task that involves close-reading of multiple dialog boxes, then France’s data protection agency has your back. The watchdog (CNIL) has fined Google €150 million ($170 million) and Facebook €60 million ($68 million) for making it too confusing for users to reject cookies. The companies now have three months to change their ways in France. With Facebook, CNIL notes that in… Source link

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Google Fiber retail staff in KC begin unionizing efforts

Google Fiber retail staff in KC begin unionizing efforts

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Staff members who operate retail stores for Google Fiber internet in Kansas City, Missouri, have begun the formal process to form a union. This week, 10 of the 11 eligible employees filed a request to hold a union vote with the National Labor Relations Board. The group is organizing under the Alphabet Workers Union which formed one year ago under the Communications Workers of America. Alphabet owns Google. Eris Derickson works at the Google Fiber retail store near West… Source link

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Google copied Sonos’ multi-zone speaker technology, US import regulator rules

Google copied Sonos’ multi-zone speaker technology, US import regulator rules

The US International Trade Commission has ruled that Google is in violation of five Sonos patents relating to smart speakers (via The New York Times). The decision affirms a judge’s ruling in August, and could force Google to stop importing products using the infringing technology. It’s not yet clear whether any specific Google products will necessarily disappear from shelves — in fact, Google spokesperson José Castaneda suggests the company’s customers would not “experience any… Source link

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Google Infringed on Sonos Speaker Technology, Trade Court Rules

Google Infringed on Sonos Speaker Technology, Trade Court Rules

OAKLAND, Calif. — Google infringed on five audio technology patents held by the speaker manufacturer Sonos and is not allowed to import products that violate Sonos’s intellectual property into the United States, a trade court ruled on Thursday. The final ruling by the United States International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial body that decides trade cases and can block the import of goods that violate patents, closes a two-year investigation into the intellectual-property dispute.

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France Fines Google, Facebook for Privacy Violations

France Fines Google, Facebook for Privacy Violations

A French regulator fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google $169 million and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook $67 million, saying the companies made it too difficult for users to reject cookies, the identifiers used to track their data. Facebook and Google required several steps to reject cookies used to track their data on YouTube, Facebook and Google, leading users to accept the technology because doing so required just one click, said… Source link

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France fines Google, Facebook millions over tracking consent

France fines Google, Facebook millions over tracking consent

LONDON — French regulators on Thursday fined Google and Facebook a total of more than 200 million euros ($226 million) for not making it as easy for people to opt out of online tracking as it is for them to accept it. The CNIL data privacy watchdog said its investigations found that while the U.S. online giants gave French users a single button to immediately accept cookies, there wasn’t an equally simple way for them to decline because “several clicks are required to refuse all… Source link

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To catch an insurrectionist: Facebook and Google are helping the FBI find January 6 rioters

To catch an insurrectionist: Facebook and Google are helping the FBI find January 6 rioters

A few days after the Capitol insurrection last January, the FBI got two tips identifying an Ohio man named Walter Messer as a participant, and both cited his social media posts about being there. To verify those tips, the FBI turned to three companies that held a large amount of damning evidence against Messer, simply as a result of his normal use of their services: AT&T, Facebook, and Google. AT&T gave the FBI Messer’s telephone number and a list of cell sites he used, including one… Source link

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Google hit with 150 mln euro French fine for cookie breaches

Google hit with 150 mln euro French fine for cookie breaches

A 3D printed Facebook’s new rebrand logo Meta is seen in front of displayed Google logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register PARIS, Jan 6 (Reuters) – France’s data privacy watchdog CNIL said on Thursday it had fined Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) a record 150 million euros ($169 million) for making it difficult for internet users to refuse online trackers known as cookies. Meta Platforms’… Source link

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Gioacchino Gammino: Google Maps helps Italian police capture mafia fugitive in Galapagar, Spain

Gioacchino Gammino: Google Maps helps Italian police capture mafia fugitive in Galapagar, Spain

After a two-year investigation, Gioacchino Gammino, 61, was tracked down in Galapagar, Spain, where he lived under a fake name. The town is close to the capital Madrid. A Google Maps street view picture portraying a man who looked like him in front of a fruit shop was key in triggering a deeper investigation. “The photogram helped us to confirm the investigation we were developing in traditional ways,” Nicola Altiero, deputy director of the Italian anti-mafia police unit (DIA), said. Gammino, a… Source link

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