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EU Flexes Muscles: Meta’s ‘Pay or Consent’ Model Faces DMA Challenge

✇Cybersecurity News and Magazine
By: Mihir Bagwe
2 July 2024 at 18:16

Pay or Consent, Meta

The European Commission has found that Meta's "pay or consent" advertising model breaches the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The preliminary findings highlight concerns about user choice and data control within the social media landscape. The comprehensive investigation will take a year's time, after which a formal decision will be made, the Commission said.

Meta DMA, Pay or Consent

DMA Compliance: A New Benchmark for User Privacy

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was signed into law by the European Parliament and the Council presidency in September 2022. It became legally effective two months later and most of its regulations took effect on May 2, 2023.

The DMA is a European law that aims to prevent large online platforms from abusing their market power and to ensure fair competition in the digital economy. The law primarily targets "gatekeepers," which are large digital platforms that provide core services like search engines, messaging services, app stores and dominant online platforms like Meta.

Meta's Model Under Fire: Limited Options, Privacy Concerns

Online platforms collect a lot of personal data to power online advertising. Their dominant position allows them to set user agreements that enable vast data collection, giving them a big advantage over competitors.

New EU regulations - DMA Article 5(2) - aim to empower users by requiring platforms to get explicit consent before combining their data across different services. Even if users refuse consent, they must still have access to a basic version of the service, even if it's less personalized. This stops platforms from forcing users to give up their data to use the service entirely.

Meta's "pay or consent" model, launched in response to the DMA, presents EU users with a binary choice, the commission argued. Subscribe for an ad-free version or accept personalized ads in the free version. The Commission said this approach fails to comply with the DMA on two key points:

  • Lack of a "Less Personalized" Option: Users are not offered a service with reduced data collection and ad personalization, violating their right to control their data footprint.
  • Consent Coercion: The model allegedly coerces consent by making access to certain functionalities conditional on agreeing to data combination.

The Commission asserted that users who choose not to consent should still have access to an equivalent service with less data collection for advertising purposes.

Next Steps: Dialog and Potential Penalties

Meta now has the opportunity to respond to the preliminary findings and defend its practices. The Commission will conclude its investigation within a year, potentially leading to a formal decision against Meta if the concerns are confirmed.

Meta DMA, Pay or Consent

Potential consequences for non-compliance include hefty fines – up to 20% of global turnover for repeated offenses. More drastic measures like forced business divestments are also on the table.

The Commission remains open to discussions with Meta to find a solution that complies with the DMA. This case sets a crucial precedent for how dominant platforms handle user data and privacy in the age of stricter regulations.

Meta defends charging fee for privacy amid showdown with EU

✇Ars Technica
By: Ashley Belanger
1 July 2024 at 11:26
Meta defends charging fee for privacy amid showdown with EU

Enlarge (credit: Anadolu / Contributor | Anadolu)

Meta continues to hit walls with its heavily scrutinized plan to comply with the European Union's strict online competition law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), by offering Facebook and Instagram subscriptions as an alternative for privacy-inclined users who want to opt out of ad targeting.

Today, the European Commission (EC) announced preliminary findings that Meta's so-called "pay or consent" or "pay or OK" model—which gives users a choice to either pay for access to its platforms or give consent to collect user data to target ads—is not compliant with the DMA.

According to the EC, Meta's advertising model violates the DMA in two ways. First, it "does not allow users to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the 'personalized ads-based service." And second, it "does not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data," the press release said.

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Data of 93,000 Volunteers of India’s NDMA Allegedly Put Up for Sale

✇Cybersecurity News and Magazine
By: Krishna Murthy
27 June 2024 at 10:11

National Disaster Management Authority

A threat actor claims to have carried out a cyberattack on India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The NDMA is the top statutory body for disaster management in India, with the Prime Minister as its chairperson. The threat actor, operating under the alias “infamous,” has allegedly gained access to personal data of 93,000 volunteers, including their names, age, mobile numbers and other critical records. The hacker is currently selling the data on the dark web for $1,000.

Exploring Data Leak Claims of NDMA Volunteers

The NDMA was created in 2006. Its primary responsibility is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. It is also the apex body for setting policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management to ensure a timely and effective response to disasters. The allegation that NDMA data had been hacked emerged on June 25 on the data leak site BreachForums. The threat actor “infamous” claimed to be in possession of a stolen database, consisting of the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of NDMA volunteers, including their personal details such as name, title, gender, blood group, date of birth, email, mobile number, ID number, marital status, family contact number, education qualifications, skills, cadre, address, postal code, and the current state of residence. [caption id="attachment_79228" align="alignnone" width="1596"]NDMA volunteer data breach Source: X[/caption] To substantiate the data breach claim, the threat actor attached sample records, with the latest timestamp of June 2024, while disclosing that the database includes records of 93,000 volunteers. The cyberattacker is asking $1,000 for the entire data set on BreachForums. Despite these claims by the threat actor, a closer inspection reveals that NDMA’s website is currently functioning normally, showing no signs of a security breach. The threat actor has also not provided clarity on the time period when the services of volunteers occurred. The Cyber Express has reached out to NDMA to verify the alleged cyberattack. As of now, no official statements or responses have been received, leaving the claims unverified.

NDMA Volunteers Must Stay Vigilant

While authorities investigate the data breach claim, NDMA volunteers must be vigilant and take steps to prevent any malicious activities. Cybercriminals usually employ a range of tactics to misuse personal information, perpetuating identity theft and financial fraud. Some prominent techniques include phishing, where hackers trick individuals into revealing their PII by mimicking legitimate entities through fraudulent emails or phone calls. Individuals are also susceptible to identity theft and fraud, where fraudsters use psychological tactics to divulge sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card details. Since the email addresses have also been allegedly leaked, individuals must be vigilant of suspicious messages requesting sensitive information, as well as any unusual activity involving new or existing accounts.

Hackers Target 373 Indian Govt Websites in Five Years: Report

According to data published by the Indian Government, hackers have repeatedly targeted key websites run by the administration. An article in The Hindustan Times, quoting data from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said that, “As per the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), a total number of 110, 54, 59, 42, 50 and 58 website hacking incidents of Central Ministries/Departments and State Government organizations were observed during the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 (up to September).” The report added that some government offices were still using outdated Windows versions in their official computers and laptops, making them vulnerable to cyber threats. Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.

Ketamine pills for depression show positive results in trial—but with caveats

✇Ars Technica
By: Beth Mole
25 June 2024 at 16:18
Ketamine pills for depression show positive results in trial—but with caveats

Enlarge (credit: Getty | RJ Sangosti)

After an MDMA therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder dramatically failed to impress Food and Drug Administration advisers earlier this month, researchers are moving forward with another psychedelic—a slow-release oral dose of the hallucinogenic drug ketamine—as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression.

In a mid-stage, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, researchers tested slow-release ketamine pills, taken twice weekly. The trial, sponsored by New Zealand-based Douglas Pharmaceuticals, found ketamine to be safe compared with placebo. At the trial's highest dose, the treatment showed some efficacy against depression in patients who had previously tried an average of nearly five antidepressants without success, according to the results published Monday in Nature Medicine.

But the Phase II trial, which started with 231 participants, indicated that the pool of patients who may benefit from the treatment could be quite limited. The researchers behind the trial chose an unusual "enrichment" design to test the depression treatment. This was intended to thwart the high failure rates generally seen in trials for depression treatments, even in patients without treatment-resistant cases. But even after selecting patients who initially responded to ketamine, 59.5 percent of the enriched participants still dropped out of the trial before its completion, largely due to a lack of efficacy.

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Apple Intelligence and other features won’t launch in the EU this year

✇Ars Technica
By: Samuel Axon
21 June 2024 at 15:34
A photo of a hand holding an iPhone running the Image Playground experience in iOS 18

Enlarge / Features like Image Playground won't arrive in Europe at the same time as other regions. (credit: Apple)

Three major features in iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia will not be available to European users this fall, Apple says. They include iPhone screen mirroring on the Mac, SharePlay screen sharing, and the entire Apple Intelligence suite of generative AI features.

In a statement sent to Financial Times, The Verge, and others, Apple says this decision is related to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Here's the full statement, which was attributed to Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz:

Two weeks ago, Apple unveiled hundreds of new features that we are excited to bring to our users around the world. We are highly motivated to make these technologies accessible to all users. However, due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these features — iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence — to our EU users this year.

Specifically, we are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security. We are committed to collaborating with the European Commission in an attempt to find a solution that would enable us to deliver these features to our EU customers without compromising their safety.

It is unclear from Apple's statement precisely which aspects of the DMA may have led to this decision. It could be that Apple is concerned that it would be required to give competitors like Microsoft or Google access to user data collected for Apple Intelligence features and beyond, but we're not sure.

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