Criteo Fined €40m for GDPR Violations; YouTube Ventures into Online Games

by Hannah Dillon on 27th Jun 2023 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Criteo is issued a revised fine in France for GDPR violations; YouTube internally tests a new gaming feature; and Amazon ups its investment in India to USD$26bn (~£20bn).

Criteo fined €40m over user targeting

Tech giant Criteo has received a revised fine of €40m (~£34.2m) from France’s data privacy watchdog after failing to secure users’ consent for targeted advertising, amongst other GDPR violations. The fine follows a formal complaint raised by Privacy International in 2018, with the privacy group stating it was “gravely concerned” by how tech giants, including Criteo, process data. The Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés’ (CNIL) investigation into Criteo concluded the company tracked and targeted internet users without their informed consent.

YouTube develops gaming offering

YouTube is advancing into the gaming industry, with the video-hosting site testing a new product for playing online games. Parent company Google recently invited YouTube employees to test a new product dubbed “Playables”, which allows users to game on their computers or mobile devices. Already a popular site for gamers to livestream their sessions on, providing in-house online games could give YouTube a larger source of revenue outside of advertising.

Amazon to invest further $15bn in India

E-commerce giant Amazon will pour USD$15bn (~£12.8bn) into India over the next seven years. Confirmed by Amazon chief Andy Jassy on Friday (23rd June), the investment more than doubles the USD$11bn (9.4bn) the company has invested in the South Asian nation to date. The move follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, during which he met with higher-ups from several American firms, including Apple and Google, to discuss investments in the Indian market.