May 25, 2018

Facebook and Google are already facing GDPR complaints

Photo: Maciej Luczniewski/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Just hours after Europe's new online privacy policy went into effect, Facebook and Google are already facing their first complaints, filed by none other than European privacy advocate Max Schrems.

Why it matters: Schrems, via a non-profit, has filed complaints against Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Google's Android on behalf of unnamed individuals, arguing the companies are violating the GDPR through their "all or nothing" user consent prompts.

Who is Schrems? An Austrian lawyer, he first became interested in user privacy while an exchange student at Santa Clara University's law school in 2011. Since then, he's filed multiple complaints against Facebook's user data policies, eventually leading to the EU and U.S. having to rewrite regulations around user data protection and transfer.
GDPR: Stands for the General Data Protection Regulation, a new European Union law aiming to help individuals control whether online websites and services can collect their data.

Go deeper: A look at Schrems' new complaints.

Go deeper

Dave Lawler

Pro-Trump warrior takes the helm of U.S. intelligence

Richard Grenell in Berlin. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

By picking Ambassador Richard Grenell to be acting director of national intelligence, President Trump has slotted a pro-Trump warrior into the ultimate apolitical role.

What they're saying: James Clapper, the longest-serving DNI (2010-2017), tells Axios it's "very worrisome installing a partisan with no real intelligence experience in this position."

Go deeper54 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Axios

Coronavirus kills 2 Diamond Princess passengers as Israel confirms first case

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. U.S. numbers include Americans extracted from Princess Cruise ship.

Two elderly Diamond Princess passengers have been killed by the novel coronavirus — the first deaths confirmed among the more than 600 infected aboard the cruise ship — as Israel confirmed its first case among evacuees from the ship.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed more than 2,200 people and infected over 76,000 others, mostly in mainland China, where the National Health Commission announced 118 new deaths since Thursday.

Go deeperUpdated 55 mins ago - Health

Courtenay Brown

California's "woman quota" law seems to be working

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

When California passed its boardroom law requiring public companies based there to have at least one female director, there were concerns it would spark a gold rush for the same handful of well-known women — but that hasn’t happened.

Why it matters: Of the 138 women who joined all-male California boards last year, 62% are serving on their first company board, per a study by accounting firm KPMG. That means a majority of companies aren't contributing to so-called overboarding in corporate America.

Go deeper1 hour ago - Economy & Business