The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched strategic market status (SMS) investigations in a second area of digital activity: mobile ecosystems. Two investigations into Apple and Google respectively will assess in parallel their position in their respective “mobile ecosystems” which include the operating systems, app stores and browsers that operate on mobile devices. The…
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Ofcom has issued a Final Decision to MintStars Ltd under s368Z4 of the Communication Act 2003 for MintStar’s failure to take and/or implement adequate measures as set out in Schedule 15A of the Act as are appropriate for the purposes of protecting persons under the age of 18 from videos containing restricted material, as required…
Read More… from Ofcom fines video sharing platform MintStars £7,000
The ICO has published its online tracking strategy which sets out how it will promote compliance with the law in 2025 to obtain a fairer online tracking ecosystem for people and business. The ICO discusses its activities in 2024 and says that its focus in 2025 will be on online advertising. It says that giving…
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Online reviews can have a huge impact on consumer spending. The CMA has estimated that as much as £23 billion of UK consumer spending is potentially influenced by online reviews annually, and research has shown that 89% of consumers use online customer reviews when researching a product or service. Any business that publishes reviews should…
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UK UK government tables amendment to Data (Use and Access) Bill to deal with deepfakes The UK government has tabled an amendment to the Data (Use and Access Bill) to deal with deepfakes. The Data (Use and Access) Bill is currently before Parliament. The government’s amendment will criminalise intentionally creating a sexually explicit deepfake without…
The UK government has launched a call for evidence about the use of computer evidence in court, Current principles around the use of evidence generated by computer software in criminal proceedings were established over two decades ago by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, with the common law presumption that a computer was…
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During its January 2025 plenary meeting, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted guidelines on pseudonymisation, as well as a statement on the interplay of competition law and data protection. Pseudonymisation The GDPR refers to the term “pseudonymisation” as a safeguard that may be appropriate and effective to meet data protection obligations. The EDPB has…
The UK government has published its response to the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee report on the governance of AI. It thanks the Committee for its report, and notes the conclusions and recommendations. It agrees with the Committee that AI-specific legislation is required. and says that it will shortly publish a…
Ofcom has published its final guidance on age assurance under the Online Safety Act 2023. It says that robust age checks are a cornerstone of the OSA. It requires services which allow pornography or certain other types of harmful content to introduce “age assurance” to ensure that children are not normally able to encounter it….
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UK law DBT and DCMS launch consultation on ticket resale price cap and calls for evidence on dynamic pricing The Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are consulting about measures to regulate the ticket resale market. The consultation proposes a cap on resale ticket prices, ranging from the…