EU: New privacy rules to aid Google, Facebook?

As tech corporations around the world face mounting pressure from regulatory bodies and consumers seeking more control over their online privacy, new regulation from the European Union could actually serve to strengthen America’s most powerful data-driven advertising businesses, especially in relation to smaller ad tech companies with less-known brands or that don’t have relationships with end-users, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Silicon Valley digital giant Facebook, which has seen its shares weighed down by investor fears over more regulation following a series of scandals regarding its use and protection of troves of consumer data, is seen as gaining its lead against smaller names when Europe’s sweeping new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is enacted next month.

Brussels wants its new GDPR to stop tech giants and their partners from pressuring consumers to relinquish control of their data in exchange for services. The EU would like to set an example for legislation around the world. But some of the restrictions are having an unintended consequence: reinforcing the duopoly of Facebook and Alphabet’s Google, reported the WSJ.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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