Policy Wrap: Protean and PayNearby partner to offer credit services on ONDC, NPCI plans to launch voice bots for UPI Payments, Snapchat under scrutiny from UK watchdog, and more
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ONDC
Protean, PayNearby partner to offer credit services on ONDC
Protean eGov Technologies and the fintech company PayNearby have joined forces to offer MSMEs and last-mile borrowers credit services on the ONDC network. After it is launched, the marketplace will make it simple to find a variety of lending solutions at reasonable prices, according to a statement.
Through PayNearby's established Distribution as a Service (DaaS) network, Protean will play the role of an ONDC technology service provider that makes credit available to last-mile borrowers across the nation.
Many people currently lack the technical skills necessary to use account aggregator frameworks, obtain credit against their data, or give their authorization for its use.
This change is a form of intervention that can make use of the physical network that PayNearby has at its disposal. The last mile agent can then offer an assisted service and onboard individuals to join the account aggregator structure and receive credit for their data.
Small business owners will be able to link their bank account or other financial data to the site via the account aggregator framework. In turn, the lender will be able to receive the information from this small bank. The lender would then have the ability to use rule engines to grant loans which could be as low as Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000. Loan Service Providers (LSPs) will also be consolidated by Protean onto a single platform.
PayNearby and Protean previously collaborated to offer paperless PAN Card services at nearby-by stores across India.
PAYMENTS
NPCI plans to launch voice bots for UPI Payments within the next couple of months
For Indian consumers to use UPI to make payments, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is developing an interactive system based on voice bots. Within the next two to three months, the system should go operational.
The goal is to create a voice system similar to Amazon Alexa that banks and payment apps may incorporate. Customers who need to complete several procedures in order to make payments through UPI currently, will be able to just speak into the app to execute the same.
This 'add on functionality' must be additionally integrated into the platforms of third-party payment apps.
Customers will be able to begin and complete transactions using this AI-powered technology that allows for communication.
This will undoubtedly leverage creative capabilities and fill the gap to help establish a practical and user-friendly payment system for consumers, bringing a sizable number of users to the digital platform.
This technology could become a use case for all UPI apps if NPCI builds it. By accepting this update, existing payment platforms will be required to launch this update.
ANTITRUST
Snapchat under scrutiny from UK watchdog over inability to keep off underage users from the app
The British data regulator is gathering data on Snapchat to determine whether the American instant messaging service is taking sufficient steps to block minors from using its services.
Social media businesses must obtain parental permission to process the data of children under 13 in accordance with UK data protection law. Users of social media networks must generally be 13 or older, however companies have had varying degrees of success in keeping children off their services.
While the UK media regulator Ofcom thinks that there are thousands of underage users, it was revealed in March of this year that Snapchat owner Snap Inc had only deleted a few dozen minors under the age of 13 off its site in Britain last year.
60% of kids between the ages of eight and eleven had at least one social media account last year, which was frequently made by giving a fake date of birth, according to data from Ofcom. It also discovered that the most widely used social networking app among teenagers was Snapchat.
Following the release of the study in March, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) received a number of complaints from the public regarding Snap's handling of children's data.
Some of the criticisms focused on Snapchat's failure to take adequate steps to keep young children off its site.
Norway data regulator fines Meta $98,500 per day over privacy breaches
Meta Platforms have been fined 1 million crowns ($98,500) every day starting today, the 14th of August, for privacy violations.
On July 17, the company's regulator, Datatilsynet, warned that if it didn't fix the privacy violations, it would be risking a fine.
Datatilsynet had said that Meta must not collect user information in Norway, such as users' actual whereabouts, and use it to target them with behavioural advertising, a Big Tech-favored business model.
It had until August 4 to show the regulator that the problem had been resolved.
The penalty is valid until November 3. If European Data Protection Board concurs with the judgement of the Norwegian regulator, the former may make the fine permanent. Additionally, this might extend the decision's geographic reach to the rest of Europe.
Last week, Meta announced that it would seek EU users' permission before allowing companies to target advertisements based on what users view on its services, like Facebook and Instagram.
The head of Datatilsynet, Tobias Judin said that that action would be insufficient. Meta was required to stop processing personal data immediately and until that consent mechanism was up and running.
Adobe's Figma deal faces stringent EU investigation over concerns regarding stifling of competition
According to EU antitrust regulators, Adobe's $20 billion offer for Figma, a cloud-based design platform, might decrease competition and drive out rivals in the global markets for interactive product design tools.
Concerns were raised by a preliminary evaluation, which led the European Commission to announce that a thorough inquiry of the deal had been launched.
According to the EU antitrust watchdog, the purchase would eliminate a significant rival and might allow Adobe to limit competition in the provision of interactive product design tools on international markets.
It claimed that by combining Figma with Adobe's Creative Cloud suite, the acquisition might also impair the company's ability to develop into a serious rival to Adobe's asset creation tools and significantly lessen competition in the market for interactive product design tools.
The EU competition regulator wants to make sure that users continue to have access to a variety of digital creative tools by conducting a thorough study.
The enforcer of EU competition law stated that it would decide by December 14 whether to approve or disapprove the deal.
Canadian publishers urged the competition authorities to initiate an antitrust probe of Meta over abuse of its dominant position in the news domain
On Tuesday, organisations representing the Canadian news sector urged the nation's antitrust authority to look into Meta Platforms' decision to restrict news on its platforms there, charging the bigtech of abusing its dominant position.
In response to a rule mandating internet giants to pay for news stories, Meta began blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada last week.
The Online News Act of Canada, which is a part of a global movement to demand digital companies pay for news, was passed as a law in June earlier this year but has not yet taken effect. When the law is put into effect by the end of this year, the government will have finalised the regulations that would oblige the platforms to split some of the advertising money.
News industry associations said in a submission to Canada's Competition Bureau that Meta seeks to impair Canadian news organisations' ability to compete effectively in the news publishing and online advertising markets by blocking news material from its digital platforms.
The applicants said that Meta's anticompetitive actions, which have drawn the attention of authorities worldwide, will boost the company's already-dominant position in social media distribution and advertising while hurting Canadian journalism.
For news organisations to be able to recover revenue losses sustained during the years when Facebook and Google increased their market share of online advertising, Canada's media sector advocated for more regulation of internet companies.
Google has also stated that it will ban news in Canada by the time the regulations come into effect.