France Seeks Removal of 'Wish' From App Stores, Search Engines

The French administration wants app stores and search engines to remove Wish after an investigation of its products. They found that many of the products listed in Wish don’t meet European standards.

When Wish is notified that it is selling a dangerous good, those products are removed from the marketplace within 24 hours as expected. And yet, “in most cases, those products remain available under a different name, and sometimes even from the same seller. The company doesn’t keep any log related to transactions of non-compliant and dangerous products,” France’s Ministry of the Economy says in its statement.

Britain Wants Strict Privacy Rules for Kids

Today Britain rolled out strict privacy protections for kids, like requiring tech platforms to turn on protections by default.

The new rules are the most comprehensive protections to arise from heightened global concern that popular online services exploit children’s information, suggest inappropriate content to them and fail to protect them from sexual predators. The British children’s protections far outstrip narrower rules in the United States, which apply only to online services aimed at children under 13.

Lawmakers Want Apple to Turn Privacy Talk into Action

Although Tim Cook vocally supports privacy laws in the United States, Apple doesn’t actually support many of them.

A number of privacy advocates and U.S. lawmakers — who did not attend the meeting — say Apple has not put enough muscle behind any federal effort to tighten privacy laws. And state lawmakers, who are closest to passing rules to limit data sharing, say Apple is an ally in name only — and in fact has contributed to lobbying efforts that might undermine some new data-protection legislation.

This is something I’ve noticed as well. I think Tim and co should do more to support privacy legislation.

Is Europe Going Too Far With Tech Regulation?

Don’t answer that, because the answer is already no. Adam Satariano feels that maybe Europe is going too far when it comes to tech regulation.

Europe has clamped down on violent content, hate speech and misinformation online through a thicket of new laws and regulations over the past five years. Now there are questions about whether the region is going too far, with the rules leading to accusations of censorship and potentially providing cover to some governments to stifle dissent.

The New York Times: Why does Apple control its competitors?? Also The New York Times: Is Europe going too far?? I know that these articles were written by different people, but I still did a double take so hard that now I have whiplash.

Mark Zuckerberg Ruined the Internet. Now He Pretends to Care About It

Mark Zuckerberg is at it again with another essay. This time he says that the internet needs to be regulated and thinks Congress should focus on four areas first. Roger McNamee gives his thoughts on it.

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent opinion piece in the Washington Post is a monument to insincerity and misdirection. The essay offers proposals to address four important issues – harmful content, election protection, privacy and data protection, and data portability – but each proposal is transparently self-serving.

Should Apple Be Broken Up? Probably Not

Apple just announced a slew of new services, so you know what that means? It’s a monopoly and should be broken up, at least according to Cale Guthrie Weissman.

In the two-hour presentation, Apple transformed from product maker to platforms and services provider; Tim Cook’s ambition is to control every aspect of its domain. And that should give many of us pause…Less than a month ago, Elizabeth Warren made headlines for her sweeping plan to break up the tech giants. Though she didn’t initially mention Apple, she later explained to the Verge that, yes, the Steve Jobs-founded company is also in her crosshairs.

I think certain tech companies need regulation, but I don’t think Apple is one of them (Yes, obviously I’m biased). The only thing Elizabeth Warren did was give reasons why no one will vote for her in 2020.

Your Privacy Can't be Left up to Others

Doc Searls argues that if your privacy is in the hands of others alone, you don’t have any privacy.

If you think regulations are going to protect your privacy, you’re wrong. In fact they can make things worse, especially if they start with the assumption that your privacy is provided only by other parties, most of whom are incentivized to violate it.

I think Mr. Searls makes some good points. I’m in favor of privacy regulations, but I also agree that individuals need to manage their privacy better. Privacy should also be the default, and not a feature you have to pay for.