Facebook and Microsoft were fined nearly €750 million in December 2022 for abusing user privacy laws. At the same time, TikTok administrators admit to illegally using live and geo-location data to track employees and journalists.
One of the primary concerns for online gamblers is how their information is protected when transacting online. The need for privacy and security extends far beyond the data used to create an online casino profile and the banking information used for deposits and withdrawals.
Across the board, every digital platform you engage with stores information on your browsing habit, buying patterns, and search history. In many instances, the banking information you have listed in your player account is also available in shopping carts for faster checkouts, social media platforms for ad-free viewing and even for the simple act of age verification.
In December, this widespread access to your information has seen several tech giants face scrutiny from regulatory bodies in France, Germany, and the United States.
France Fines Microsoft €60 Million Over Cookies
The online casino space is dominated by two platforms: mobile devices and home computers. Most home computers operate on the Windows operating system, which the French Regulator of Personal Data found to be placing various tracking cookies onto users’ devices without their explicit consent.
According to the National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties (CNIL), Microsoft’s proprietary search engine, Bing, intentionally complicated the cookie refusal process to dupe users into accepting them by default.
The French regulator fined the software developer €60 million for the initial infraction and afforded them 90 days to rectify the process. Failing to do so will result in Microsoft facing an additional penalty of €60,000 per day until the issue is resolved to CNILs satisfaction.
Facebook Agrees To €683 Million Settlement Fee
In 2018 Facebook users were shocked to hear that the tech giant had allowed third-party app developers access to the personal information of nearly 90 million of its users. The subsequent court filing alleged that the social media platform mismanaged user data and, in so doing, allowed British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to manipulate the 2016 presidential election.
A court filing on December 22nd showed that the Facebook parent company, Meta, agreed to a no-fault settlement of €683 million ($725 million). The settlement is being lauded as raising the bar for what can be expected from a data privacy class action and for being “the most Facebook has ever paid to resolve a private class action”.
While €683 million is a substantial slap on the wrist for the company, it is only a fraction of the $5 billion the Federal government fined them in 2019 for misleading users about the safety of their data and how it was being used.
TikTok Admins Admit to Tracking Users
In addition to supporting the micro-content needs of its users worldwide, TikTok is becoming a significant player in the streaming wars. These streams include casino games, video games and even talk shows.
With the direct ownership link to the Chinese government, the video platform has faced several attempts to get it banned in the United States and other countries but has yet to be successful. The recent admission by employees of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, owners and operators of TikTok, might be the silver bullet that its objectors need to make their case finally.
The employee admitted to easily accessing journalists' personal information, including live geo-tracking data and cross-referencing it with the movement data of their employees to determine if they had ever met up.
This blatant admission of abusive use of users’ private information led to the US government banning TikTok on all official devices. In response to the news, twenty states have banned the social media app more are likely to follow suit in the new year.
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