Top News: Amazon's fine, Twitter's bounty, and More

Amazon hit by $888m EU privacy fine

Amazon faces the biggest ever European Union privacy fine of 746 million-euro ($888 million) after a European Union data privacy regulator alleged the company violated the bloc's rules under the GDPR in an advertising-related decision. However, Amazon stated that it plans to defend itself against the decision. Read the full story here.

Twitter offers bounty for detecting algorithmic bias in its AI

Twitter has announced cash rewards for users who can help it detect bias in its automated photo-cropping algorithm. This comes after its 'saliency' algorithm was found to be discriminatory - objectifying women and selecting white subjects over people of color.

Zoom to pay $85m to settle privacy lawsuit

Zoom has agreed to an $85 million settlement and improve its security practices to settle a lawsuit that claimed it violated users' privacy rights by sharing personal data with Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn, and letting hackers disrupt Zoom meetings. Reuters reported that the proposed class action could make subscribers eligible for refunds on their core subscriptions.

NY’s vaccine passport program raises privacy concerns

New York City’s planned vaccine passport program has raised concerns around increased surveillance, user tracking, and data collection and storage methods associated with the passports. Privacy advocates called for regulations to ensure data is safeguarded and passports do not become permanent. Read the complete report here.

Google hit with suit over illegal ad deal with Facebook

Google is facing a class-action lawsuit accusing it of cutting an illegal deal with Facebook that gave the social network unfair advantages in online advertising auctions. The suit joins other cases probing Google's dominance in the ad tech industry and the Google Play Store. Read more about it here.