Noteworthy Information

Business & Government Intermediate read

France's Privacy Watchdog Latest To Find Google Analytics Breaches GDPR

Use of Google Analytics has now been found to breach European Union privacy laws in France -- after a similar decision was reached in Austria last month. The French data protection watchdog, the CNIL, said today that an unnamed local website's use of Google Analytics is non-compliant with the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) -- breaching Article 44 which covers personal data transfers outside the bloc to so-called third countries which are not considered to have essentially equivalent privacy protections. The U.S. fails this critical equivalence test on account of having sweeping surveillance laws which do not provide non-U.S. citizens with any way to know whether their data is being acquired, how it's being used or to seek redress for any misuse.

[Simple] Why vaccine-shy French are suddenly rushing to get jabbed

The government’s decision to allow only the fully vaccinated to enter restaurants, bars, trains and other spaces has caused a spike in inoculations.

Business & Government Intermediate read

Fing Data Day

Join the Fing Data Day and explore the strategic opportunities to co-design data projects between cities. To help you prepare to take part in the discussion, we drafted this extensive participant handbook.

[Simple] French digital envoy explains departure from Facebook and WhatsApp

Henri Verdier, France’s ambassador for digital affairs, said the decision was both personal and political. He decided on February 1 that he would permanently leave the social network and the messaging app it owns.

€50 million fine for Google confirmed by French Court

Following a complaint by noyb and a similar complaint by the French NGO “La Quadrature du Net”, the CNIL (the French Data Protection Authority) imposed a 50 million euro fine on Google over the company’s opaque privacy policy and lack of legal basis for personalized ads.

The (not so) Global Forum on AI for Humanity

Earlier this week, I traveled to Paris to attend the Global Forum on Artificial Intelligence for Humanity (GFIAH). The by-invitation event featured one day of workshops addressing issues such as AI and culture, followed by a two days of panels on developing trustworthy AI, data governance, the future of work, delegating decisions to machines, bias and AI, and future challenges. The event was a part of the French government's effort to take the lead on developing a new AI regulatory framework that it describes as a 'third way', distinct from the approach to AI in China and the United States.