Policy Wrap: Rise in number of penalties in the last 4 years under GDPR, EU antitrust regulators to announce its stance on Google's Photomath acquisition by March 28, and more

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Meta accounts for over 82% of fines under EU privacy laws; total number of penalties increase 166 times in the last 4 years

Tsaaro, a provider of data privacy and cyber security services, reports in its Privacy Fines Report 2022 that penalties levied to Meta Platforms account for 82.6% of all fines levied under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This was revealed after almost 500 fines and penalties levied by EU data protection authorities in accordance with the GDPR were analysed by Tsaaro.

There were other interesting insights from the report as well. It stated that the media, communication, and broadcasting sector was responsible for 86% of all fines.

According to the report, there has been 166 times increase in total penalties in the last 4 years and the total penalty amount in 2022, which includes 440 fines, amounts to €831.25mn

EU antitrust regulators to announce its stance on Google's Photomath acquisition by March 28

According to a Wednesday filing by the European Commission, EU antitrust inspectors have set a March 28 deadline for making a judgement over Google's acquisition of the Croatian arithmetic software Photomath.

Following its preliminary evaluation, the EU competition enforcer may approve the merger with or without remedies, or, may launch a four-month inquiry if it has major concerns.

"We can confirm that we entered into an agreement to acquire Photomath in May 2022, subject to regulatory review," a Google spokesperson said.

Microsoft offers rivals licensing deals in exchange for regulatory approval, but refuses to sell “Call of Duty”
By stating on Tuesday that it is prepared to offer rivals licencing deals in exchange for regulatory approval of its $69 billion deal to acquire video game publisher Activision, Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet in response to antitrust criticisms. However, it would not sell Activision's lucrative "Call of Duty" franchise.

According to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agreement would offer Microsoft's Xbox exclusive access to Activision titles while excluding Sony's Playstation and Nintendo platforms. The FTC sought a judge to halt the contract in December.

While the European Commission has warned Microsoft about the potential anti-competitive effects of the purchase, the UK competition watchdog CMA has suggested selling Call of Duty to allay its worries.

The decision of the EU antitrust enforcer is due by April 11, but, depending on when remedies are presented, the period may be extended.

A response hearing might happen as early as March. Final submissions and responses are due in March. A final report is due on April 26.

UP govt announces measures in budget to encourage youth and promote a startup culture
According to a formal announcement, the Uttar Pradesh government included measures to support startups in the state's budget that was unveiled on Wednesday. The budget has reportedly included particular measures aimed at encouraging young people's independence and creating a startup culture.

Under the UP Startup Policy - 2020, startups are being promoted in a number of sectors, including agriculture, health care, energy, khadi, education, tourism, and transportation.

The statement also mentioned that in the state, there are up to 50 incubators and 7,200 businesses. To support incubators, a deal worth Rs 100 crore has been made for seed money.

To further encourage young entrepreneurs to launch agritech startups in rural regions, Rs 60 crore has been recommended for the Uttar Pradesh Information Technology and Startups Policy, while Rs 20 crore is proposed for the Agricultural Accelerator Fund.

RBI directs banks and financial institutions to be alert against cybersecurity threats
Rohit Jain, executive director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), ordered banks and financial institutions to fully fund the banking security system on Monday in light of the cybersecurity risk to the banking industry.

He stressed the importance of being ready for any potential effects that the growth of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the banking industry may have.

He also added that the information security function should be sufficiently resourced in terms of the number of employees, degree of knowledge, use of tools and procedures, as well as suitable investment in IT and ITES, keeping in mind the evolving environment and the risks involved.

He went on to say that banks should regularly assess the threat profile of their vital information assets, test them for flaws, and make sure they are resilient to cybersecurity risks. Before implementing new items and technology, due diligence should be done. The Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) security department must implement procedures to guarantee that all application and technology stack modifications are coordinated.

MeitY puts out bid to estimate the size of India's digital economy

The task of assessing the scale of India's digital economy, as well as the rankings and assessment of the share of the states in this field, was put out to bid by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Wednesday.

A framework for measuring the digital economy may be developed by interested parties. Along with rankings of states based on the size of their digital economies, they would also develop measurements and estimates of each state's digital economy.

During the G20 summit, which will be held in New Delhi in September, the government intends to highlight the success of India's digital economy. It might also provide conditional help to other nations so they can develop their own financial systems and digital economies.