WhatsApp must clarify 2021 changes to its privacy policy and terms of service to ensure they comply with EU consumer protection law, the European Commission said Thursday. After an alert by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the EC and EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network of regulatory authorities notified the company it must explain how it complies with the law. Officials questioned whether consumers are given sufficiently clear information on their decision to accept or reject the new terms of service; whether WhatApp's in-app notifications prompting consumers to accept the terms and policy are fair; and whether consumers have an adequate chance to learn about the new terms before accepting them. They're concerned about exchange of users' personal data between WhatsApp and third parties or other Facebook/Meta companies. The platform has until Feb. 28 to explain how it will address the issues. WhatsApp "bombarded users for months with persistent pop-up messages" and was "deliberately vague" about what they were being pushed to accept, said BEUC Deputy Director General Ursula Pachl. WhatsApp looks forward to explaining to the EC how it protects users' privacy in compliance with EU law, said a spokesperson. He noted that, at the direction of the Irish Data Protection Commission, the company reorganized and added more detail to its European region privacy policy in November, several months after BEUC's July action.

Social media entered 2022 with 4.62 billion users globally, equaling more than 58% of the world’s population, with 424 million new users added since Jan. 1, 2021, said a Digital 2022 report released Wednesday by social media management platform Hootsuite and creative agency We Are Social. Facebook remains the world’s most used social platform, followed by YouTube and WhatsApp. Other findings: (1) Instagram’s ad reach jumped by 21% in the past year to nearly 1.5 billion monthly users; (2) People who own cryptocurrency jumped nearly 38%; (3) The COVID-19 pandemic-induced surge in e-commerce adoption rates shows no signs of abating, with nearly six in 10 “working-age internet users” now buying something online weekly.

Pakistani users shouldn't pay SpaceX a deposit for Starlink service because the satellite broadband service isn't licensed to operate in that country, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said last week. It said it "has already taken up the matter with Starlink to stop taking pre-order bookings from intended consumers with immediate effect." SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday.

Juniper Research picked Shanghai as the world’s top smart city for 2022 for its “citizen cloud” data platform “as a one-stop point for over 1,000 different services for city residents,” said the firm Monday. Rounding out the top five were Seoul, Barcelona, Beijing and New York, based on their “transportation and infrastructure, energy and lighting, city management and technology, and urban connectivity,” it said.

Open radio access network revenue is projected to be some 15% of the overall 2G-5G RAN market by 2026, “reflecting healthy traction in multiple regions with both basic and advanced radios,” Dell’Oro Group said Friday. Asia-Pacific is dominating in the early phase, with more than 40% of 2021-26 revenue, the researcher said: The move to virtualized RAN is “progressing at a slightly slower pace” and should be 5%-10% of the RAN market in 2026. “Open RAN is here to stay and the architecture will play an important role before 6G,” Dell’Oro said.

The European Parliament wants tougher controls on online profiling and targeting, it said Thursday, approving its negotiating position on the Digital Services Act. The DSA proposal contains measures to tackle illegal content and requirements for very large platforms to prevent abuse of their systems (see 2012150022). Lawmakers changed the original European Commission proposal, including bans on targeting the data of minors to show them advertisements, and on profiling people on the basis of special categories of data that allow vulnerable groups to be targeted. Lawmakers wanted more transparent and informed choice on targeted ads, saying refusing consent to such marketing shouldn't be harder or more time-consuming than giving it. They said online platforms shouldn't be able to use deceiving or nudging techniques to influence user behavior through "dark patterns." The vote paves the way for "trilogue" talks with EU governments, which approved their negotiating stance in November (see 2111260016), and the EC. The parliamentary version got guarded support from some groups. "Parliament has done a mixed job," said the European Consumer Organisation: It failed to create a "clear liability regime" for online marketplaces to ensure consumers are protected and compensated if they're harmed by illegal practices on platforms; and it should have supported a full ban on surveillance ads. The Computer & Communications Industry Association urged negotiators to "consider the impact of proposed new obligations such as restrictions to personalized ads, broad 'know-your-business-consumer' obligations, user redress, and data disclosure to law enforcement and researchers." European Digital Rights said banning surveillance ads altogether "would have been a more effective strategy," but nixing the use of sensitive data and outlawing dark patterns "is certainly the next-best thing." EDRi criticized lawmakers for refusing to give users the right to choose the ranking and recommendation algorithms they prefer. The Information Technology Industry Council welcomed the decision to maintain the EU e-commerce directive's limited liability rules for online intermediaries, saying policymakers should stay focused on the measure's original intent of creating a level playing field for businesses with proportionate rules on removing illegal online content: Issue-specific provisions such as the ban on dark patterns and regulating targeted ads "are missing nuances regarding the technicality and feasibility of these issues." Asked which provisions are likely to be controversial, a spokesperson from the lead Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee said that's for the rapporteur to announce in coming days, since determining the sticking points is strategic for the negotiation.

The U.S. and EU treat Big Tech and China differently in the debate on data flows, speakers said at a virtual Progressive Policy Institute event Wednesday. From a privacy and diplomacy standpoint, Europe has painted itself into a corner, said European Centre for International Political Economy Director Hosuk Lee-Makiyama: It addressed U.S. platforms while ignoring that many people use TikTok, Zoom and similar companies, and that some personal data is going to China. While the EU and U.S. squabble, they're losing ground for future economic competitiveness, said Kristian Stout, International Center for Law & Economics innovation policy director. When the scale of NSA's Prism data collection was revealed, Europe and the U.S. demanded negotiations to scale back the practice (see 1307080059), said Lee-Makiyama: But neither party sought relief when China enacted its privacy law, so does that mean they trust President Xi Jinping? It's also inexplicable that Max Schrems has brought around 100 lawsuits, mostly against Google and Facebook, but has never sued any Chinese entity subject to that country's national security law, Lee-Makiyama said. Since the European Court of Justice struck down transfer mechanism Privacy Shield in Schrems II (see 2009100001), there's concern not only about a replacement but also about whether an alternative mechanism, standard contractual clauses (SCCs), will also be invalidated, said PPI Chief Economist Michael Mandel. The parties are essentially friendly trade partners, but the sticky question is where the EU is willing to give ground and whether the U.S. is likely to change its national security apparatus, said Stout. He said he's optimistic the EU will give some ground based on its trade commitments, because under EU law, privacy can't entirely trump national security. And if Europe has to give something, so does the U.S., he said: Overbroad surveillance data collection processes could be changed to enable the EU to grant an adequacy ruling; the lack of redress by European citizens for data misuse could come through proportional analyses in lawsuits that show that China, EU countries and other governments also engage in U.S.-like surveillance. If SCCs are invalided and there's no agreement on a revised PS, Lee-Makiyama said, he's pessimistic the EU general data protection regulation could be reversed because of its normative effect globally on cross-border data flows. The debate isn't whether there should be a GDPR, but whether it's being intertwined with trade and national security policies in a way that could lead to no trade if the discussion follows its natural conclusion, said Stout. The U.S. won't necessarily come closer to the EU position on privacy, but everyone wants a "reasonable compromise," said Lee-Makiyama.

The State Department wants private sector participants to advise U.S. delegations at various 2022 events promoting space commerce as well as implementation of best practices for the peaceful uses of outer space for civil and commercial activities in a safe and responsible manner, said Wednesday's Federal Register. The events include the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee meeting in February, the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee meeting in April and the COPUOS plenary in June, all in Vienna, and World Space Forums organized by the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs, it said.

Global information technology spending will rise 5.1% in 2022, topping $4.45 trillion, with communications services the largest segment, increasing 1.3% from 2021 to $1.46 trillion, reported Gartner Tuesday. Despite uncertain impacts from COVID-19's omicron variant, “economic recovery with high expectations for digital market prosperity will continue to boost technology investments,” it said.

The U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council shouldn't be seen as a prelude to reentering talks for a comprehensive trade agreement, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told the Institute of International and European Affairs webinar Wednesday. Though Tai said she would never say never about a new U.S.-EU trade agreement, she thinks the TTC "is quite a comprehensive approach to the most pressing issues," and said she's enthusiastic about its responsiveness to current trade challenges. The TTC held its inaugural meeting Sept. 29 in Pittsburgh, where it agreed to set in motion 10 working groups to address specific tasks before it meets again in the spring (see 2110010037).