Hundreds of US Google employees sign petition against compulsory vaccines November 24, 2021 Several hundred Google employees have signed a petition opposing the tech giant’s widened vaccine policy that includes compulsory Covid vaccinations for some staff returning to the office and working from home. Google staff based in the US circulated a document asking management to retract a vaccine mandate and create a new one that is “inclusive [...]
Italy’s antitrust authority issues whopping €200m fine to Amazon and Apple November 23, 2021 Italy's antitrust authority has fined Amazon and Apple more than €200m (£168m) in the latest sign that the EU is cracking down on big tech.
All eyes on the UK Supreme Court today as it will rule on £2bn lawsuit by 4m Brits against Google November 10, 2021 Should a billion-pound legal action against Google over claims it secretly tracked millions of iPhone users’ internet activity be allowed to go ahead? The UK’s highest court will give its verdict at 9.45am today. Former Which? director Richard Lloyd, supported by the campaign group Google You Owe Us, wants to bring a “representative action” against [...]
Exclusive: Brands fall short of customer engagement and interaction, warns digital ad guru October 29, 2021 In today’s increasingly digital-led way of life, retailers, service providers and other businesses are digitalising more of their operations and dealing with customers across a range of channels, whether it’s via a website, mobile app, email and other messaging formats, social media, or even the old-fashioned phone call. But according to Daniel Homoki-Farkas, UK managing [...]
Google’s owner Alphabet smashes expectations for revenue and profit October 26, 2021 Google’s owner Alphabet smashed expectations in its third quarter results, chalking up its third straight quarter of record profit and $65.5bn in revenues against Wall Street estimates of $63.3bn. The tech giant banked a $18.9bn net profit – or earnings per share of $27.99, up from $11.2bn for the same period last year. “Our consistent [...]
U.S. withdraws digital tax tariff threat for European countries October 22, 2021 The United States has withdrawn its tariff threat against five European countries over their digital services taxes. As part of a deal, Austria, Britain, France, Italy, Spain get to keep their digital taxes in place until a global tax agreement comes into force in 2023. The countries had agreed to withdraw their digital services taxes [...]
Exclusive: Lawyer warns tech savvy teens could leave Children’s Code efforts futile September 3, 2021 Following a twelve-month grace period, the Age Appropriate Design Code has now come into force. The UK’s new digital privacy regulation will compel social media companies, gaming platforms and video services to protect children’s data online and has been lauded by campaigners as one of the first successful pieces of digital media regulation. The Code’s [...]
Google pushes back office return to January as Covid cases surge August 31, 2021 Google has pushed back on plans for a full return to the workplace and extended its voluntary return-to-office policy through to January next year, amid concerns over rising Covid cases in some locations around the world. “Beyond January 10, we will enable countries and locations to make determinations on when to end voluntary work-from-home based [...]
South Korea outlaws Google and Apple in-app payment systems August 31, 2021 South Korea’s National Assembly has approved legislation that bans app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems. South Korea is reportedly the first country in the world to pass such a bill, which becomes law when it is signed by the president, whose party has backed [...]
Google invests £859m in German clean energy and digital infrastructure August 31, 2021 Google has announced it will invest €1bn (£859m) in German clean energy and digital infrastructure between now and 2030. Today, the tech behemoth has agreed a 92 megawatt deal with ENGIE, a large European utility company, which will assemble a green energy portfolio on Google’s behalf. The company is aiming for its German operations to [...]