Thoughts Unboxed

Another day, another data privacy investigation and another revelation. This time, it's about Meta's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) violations. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, faced a groundbreaking move today as it was hit with a staggering €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) fine by the European Union. This punitive measure came as a result of an intensive investigation by the EU's European Data Protection Board (EDPB) into Meta's questionable practice of transferring the personal data of millions of European citizens to Facebook servers based in the United States.  In the press release , the EDPB stated: The EDPB found that Meta IE’s infringement is very serious since it concerns transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous. Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is massive. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organisations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences.

  In an anticipated yet surprise win for Microsoft, EU Regulators have approved the proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft. However, it is not a completely free lunch for Microsoft. The regulators have imposed some conditions.  In a nutshell, the regulators found: Microsoft would have no incentive blocking Activision's games from Sony's PS Consoles In a scenario where Microsoft did withdraw Activision's games from PlayStation Console, it would not harm Sony in a significant way Regulators also put certain conditions for the merger to be approved: 10-year commitment for CoD to be on PlayStation Gamers in EU would get a free license for all current and future Activision's Games for the Cloud-Streaming Service of their choice provided they already own the license of those games. Cloud Streaming services would also be given free licenses to stream Activision's Games in EU countries