Wednesday, June 05, 2024

Google's Chief Privacy Officer announces departure, position won't be filled

Jun 05, 2024

What's the story

Keith Enright, Google's Chief Privacy Officer, has announced his departure after a 13-year tenure.In a LinkedIn post, Enright confirmed his exit stating, "After over 13 years at Google, I'm ready for a change, and will be moving on this fall."His departure was reportedly met with surprise by Google employees.During his time at the firm, he led the global privacy team in developing and implementing privacy as well as data policies, across all of Google's products and services.

Policy restructuring

Approach to privacy policy post-Enright

Google will not seek a replacement for Enright. Instead, the company plans to restructure its approach to policy and privacy work, by involving multiple teams.A Google spokesperson stated that they, "regularly evolve our legal, regulatory, and compliance work as we launch and run innovative services that comply with a growing number of intersecting obligations and expectations."This comes as part of Google's broader effort to adapt its legal, regulatory, and compliance operations in response to increasing global regulations.

Bye's departure

Google's head of competition law also departs

Matthew Bye, Google's chief of competition law, is also leaving the firm after a 15-year tenure.Similar to Enright's position, Google will not seek a direct replacement for Bye.The departures of both Enright and Bye, come at a time when Google faces legal challenges from media groups over its advertising practices.

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Privacy controversies

Google's privacy practices under scrutiny

Google's commitment to user privacy has recently been under scrutiny.In December last year, the company settled a lawsuit alleging unauthorized data collection from Chrome users in incognito mode.As part of the settlement, Google decided to delete billions of user data records. Further controversy arose when an internal database was leaked, revealing thousands of privacy incidents between 2013 and 2018.A Google spokesperson denied any links between these leaks and Enright's and Bye's departure announcements.

Done!

Microsoft close to resolving EU antitrust complaint through settlements

ByAkash Pandey

Jun 01, 2024

What's the story

Microsoft is reportedly nearing an agreement with the Amazon-backed cloud lobby, Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), to withdraw an antitrust complaint filed with the European Commission.This information was disclosed by Politico, citing industry insiders familiar with the proposal.The deal, still pending acceptance by CISPE members, could lead to the termination of an investigation into Microsoft's cloud-licensing agreements.

Settlement terms

Details of the proposed settlement

The proposed settlement could involve a possible multimillion-euro payment to CISPE, and possibly separate payments to individual companies.CISPE, which counts Amazon and 26 smaller EU cloud providers among its members, initially lodged its complaint in late 2022.The group alleged that Microsoft's new contractual terms, introduced on October 1, were adversely affecting Europe's cloud computing ecosystem.

Legal implications

Global legal complaints against Microsoft to cease

As part of the proposed settlement, CISPE and its member companies would agree not to file any legal complaints against Microsoft worldwide.This development was first reported by Reuters in February, stating that Microsoft was in talks with CISPE to end the European Union antitrust complaint about the software giant's cloud licensing practices.As of now, neither Microsoft, Amazon, CISPE nor the European Commission have answered to requests for comment outside regular business hours, says Reuters.

Russia labels Taliban’s control of Afghanistan as ‘crucial’

By Amu TV
JUNE 1, 2024

Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, emphasized the importance of the Taliban’s “firm grip on Afghanistan” for Moscow, during an interview with Rossiya-24 television channel.

Kabulov highlighted potential cooperation between Russia and Afghanistan in exporting oil products and ensuring the country’s food security.

“We believe that this government is holding consistent control over the country. This is fundamentally important for us,” Kabulov said. “Any disintegration of Afghanistan would have the most negative reverberations across the region.”

Kabulov underscored the significance of oil for Afghanistan’s economy. “Ensuring the basic essentials for the Afghan economy in the broadest sense. Of course, they are oil products, but it extends far beyond that,” he added.

The envoy also discussed enhanced cooperation in food security between the Taliban and Moscow. “Food security is a topic for the Afghan authorities to enhance cooperation and ensure the supplies of the most needed foodstuffs,” Kabulov noted.

Previously, Kabulov revealed that Russia’s ministries of foreign affairs and justice had proposed to President Vladimir Putin that the Taliban be removed from the list of terrorist organizations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov supported the initiative, stating that it “reflects awareness of reality.”

Despite positive relations between the Taliban and Moscow, no country has yet officially recognized the Taliban government.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog

The 'Hadd' Punishment Against Apostasy from Islam

by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi • updated Jun 1, 2024
Cross-posted from Substack

Recently, Hamza Andreas Tzortzis, a prominent British Muslim convert to Islam, issued an 'apology' on Twitter/X in which he clarified: "I fully believe in, support and defend all Islamic laws, including hadd for ridda." As the historian and linguist Marijn van Putten notes, just remove the veil of the Arabic terminology and what Hamza is calling for is the application of the death penalty against apostates (i.e. people who have abandoned Islam). While Marijn decried Hamza's remarks and suggested he would report them, Professor Jonathan Brown of Georgetown University (himself a convert to Islam) offered soft apologia for Hamza's position, describing them as "totally unremarkable religious belief." For his part, Javad Hashmi of Harvard University, who co-hosted a Bible-Qur'an course with famous New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, critiqued Hamza's position as a "backwards, medieval view" and offered a substantive refutation of it, but he nonetheless suggested it was reflective of 'cancel culture' to report such views as problematic to social media or employers. That there are academics at prestigious Western universities offering these sorts of soft apologetics for Hamza's position is remarkable to me, but I guess the issue requires some explanation.

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https://www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/the-hadd-punishment-against-apostasy

Behind the Idlib Protests

by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi • updated Jun 1, 2024
Cross-posted from Substack

The Syrian government is not the only actor to be facing sustained protests against its rule. In the 'liberated' northwest of Syria- specifically the region of Idlib and its environs- there have been widespread demonstrations over the past three months or so against some of the policies of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant insurgent faction, led by Abu Muhammad al-Jowlani. Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham exercises authority not only through its military wing but also various bodies that are nominally independent but in fact backed and controlled by the group, such as the 'Salvation Government' and the 'Public Security Apparatus.' Ultimately, the status quo in the northwest- sustained since 2020 by a ceasefire arrangement brokered between Russia and Turkey- has given rise to a system that has many parallels with how Hamas governed Gaza prior to Israel's latest military campaign: one faction exerting hegemony and implementing an Islamist, authoritarian mode of governance.