Europes Data Privacy Laws Annoy US Tech Companies
Europe is closer to approving new data-privacy legislation that threatens to raise tensions with US technology firms.The European Union body representing member countries on Friday reached a tentative agreement on a controversial power-sharing mechanism between national privacy watchdogs that had been holding up the legislation amid furious corporate lobbying.
Supporters say the new privacy rules are necessary to update and harmonize a patchwork of national laws that date to the 1990s, at the dawn of the World Wide Web. But tech executives say restrictions on how they could use data for advertising purposes could force them to stop offering some free services. Tech firms and some governments also say the pan-European board could increase, rather than reduce, the regulatory burden, punishing smaller firms.
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