US direct access to Europeans’ biometric data for visa-free travel?

The US government demands direct access to databases of European police services containing biometric data of European citizens. The US makes this entry mandatory for countries participating in the so-called Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the United States without a visa. At the beginning of this year, US … Read more

Meta pays $725 million for allowing 3rd parties access to personal data

Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media giant of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ personal information. Lawyers for the plaintiffs called the proposed settlement the largest to ever be achieved in a U.S. data privacy class action and the most that Meta … Read more

The Council adopts NIS2 Directive

“The Council adopted legislation for a high common level of cybersecurity across the Union, to further improve the resilience and incident response capacities of both the public and private sector and the EU as a whole. The new directive, called ‘NIS2’, will replace the current directive on security of network and information systems (the NIS … Read more

Microsoft 365 by governments, companies and educational institutions is in violation of GDPR

German privacy regulators have ruled that the use Microsoft 365 by governments, companies and educational institutions is in violation of privacy legislation. Only by taking additional technical measures is it possible to use the software in Germany. This was the opinion of the German regulators during the Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK) that took place last week. Although … Read more

France says no to “Free” Office365 and Google Workspace in schools

Free service offers such as Office365 and Google Workspace are excluded from public procurement according to the French Ministry. Their position reflects ongoing European concerns about cloud data sovereignty, competition, and privacy rules. Paid versions of these cloud services might be an option if they hadn’t already been disallowed based on worries about data safety. … Read more

Sanction of 800,000 euros for Discord

The CNIL pronounced against the company Discord INC. a fine of 800,000 euros for failing to comply with several GDPR obligations, in particular with regard to retention periods and the security of personal data. Discord is a voice over IP (technology that allows users to chat via their microphone and/or webcam over the Internet) and … Read more

Google settles deception case in obtaining location data for $ 391 million

Google has settled in the United States for misleadingly obtaining location data from millions of users for an amount of $ 391 million. Forty US states participated in the lawsuit against the tech company. According to state attorneys general, Google has violated consumer law by misleading users about location settings since at least 2014. This … Read more