Rude Baguette
Uber is again denied a full license in London, granted only two-month extension
Uber has been granted a two-month extension to its provisional license in London, with an application for a full license rejected by authorities for the second time in as many years, according to The Guardian. Transport for London (TfL) first rejected Uber’s license renewal in September of 2017, saying it was not a “fit and proper” private […]
EU high court rules that its ‘right to be forgotten’ law applies only to European search results
The European Union’s Court of Justice has ruled against French data authorities in their effort to apply EU privacy standards to search engines in other parts of the world, according to Politico. The EU’s 2014 “right to be forgotten” rule allows Europe’s residents to demand that certain links associated with their name are removed from search engines […]
Google says it will seek explicit permission to store and review voice recordings
Google has said it will ask for clear permission to allow staff to hear audio recordings from users, according to BBC News, after it and other tech giants came under fire for the practice following revelations earlier this year. Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple have all used human reviewers to help identify words and phrases and […]
Macron announces €5 billion in funds to develop tech startups
President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that investors have pledged €5 billion to develop France’s fledgling, homegrown tech startups into larger companies. The government has already provided tax cuts and subsidies to assist startups, as well as a fast-track visa to attract foreign workers. But while Silicon Valley startups often see investment from venture capital […]
Google invests €3 billion to expand data centers in Europe, with a focus on clean energy
Google has announced plans to invest €3 billion to expand its data centers in Europe over the next two years, with a focus on sustainability and clean energy, according to Tech Crunch. The company’s data centers are hubs for digital storage, networking, and cloud computing for its services, allowing data to be stored online instead of […]
New BBC app aims to help children develop a healthy digital life
The BBC has launched an app to help manage children’s online habits and conduct, which debuted on Wednesday for users in the UK, according to BBC News and Engadget. Called “Own It,” the app’s central feature is a keyboard that appears when the user is typing, and uses AI to detect when children could be sharing personal […]
Facebook reveals plan to establish independent oversight board to moderate content
Facebook has published details of its plan to establish an independent oversight board to moderate content on its platform, with the power to overrule CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company executives, according to BBC News. The plan for the Facebook “supreme court” was first announced in a blog post by Zuckerberg last November. On Tuesday, on […]
Google will pay France €1 billion to end years-long tax probe
Google will pay nearly €1 billion to French authorities to settle an ongoing investigation into its tax practices, according to The Verge. The payment includes a €500 million fine and tax payments of €465 million, still totaling less than the €1.6 billion Google was accused of failing to pay. Since 2016, authorities had been investigating whether […]
US lawmakers step up antitrust inquiry, demanding documents from tech giants
The House Judiciary Committee of the US Congress has called on tech companies to release a wide array of documents and emails relating to possible anticompetitive practices, escalating the federal government’s ongoing antitrust investigation into companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon. The requests were sent directly to executives like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, […]
France says it will block Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency in the EU
Facebook’s “Libra” cryptocurrency project faced another policy setback on Thursday, with France saying that it would block its implementation in the Europe, according to BBC News. The nation’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, voiced concerns over how the currency could allow Facebook to abuse its dominant position in the market, would threaten the monetary sovereignty of […]