France is Taking Legal Action Against Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon
France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has announced that France will be taking legal action against Google and Apple for “abusive commercial practices,” and the fines are likely to be in the millions.
“I learned that when developers develop their applications, and sell to Google and Apple, their prices are imposed, Google and Apple take all their data, Google and Apple can unilaterally rewrite their contracts,” the Minister said, adding that both Google and Apple shouldn’t be able to “treat our [French] startups and developers the way they do.”
The French finance ministry fraud office found that there were significant differences between Google, Apple, and French developers selling their applications via the App Store and Play Store. France is also seeking to fine Amazon 10 million euros after reports that the American company is “hurting and destabilizing the economy” in Paris, possibly even pushing French businesses into bankruptcy.
Facebook is also facing similar accusations, this time relating the social network’s ad dominance – with France saying that both Facebook and Google have an “overwhelmingly dominant position” in the market. However, France isn’t the only country facing these issues, as the European Union announced that they are taking legal action against both Facebook and Google regarding the monopoly they have on user data.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is beginning on May 25th, 2018, and is going to be the largest overhaul of personal data in the history of the internet. The GDPR will allow users to export and delete their personal data, with internet companies having to use clear and easily-understandable language, otherwise they could face hefty fines.
