Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad

Amazon manipulates customers to stay subscribed Amazon puts obstacles in the way of consumers who wish to unsubscribe from its Amazon Prime service. Today the Norwegian Consumer Council filed a legal complaint against the company for breaches of th...

the original research from the Norwegian Consumer Countil: www.forbrukerradet.no/news-in-engl... (end)

Amazon’s $2.5 Billion FTC Settlement: A landmark win for consumer rights News

This marks a significant victory for transatlantic consumers in our long-standing effort to hold tech companies accountable.

@tacd-consumers.bsky.social comment below:

tacd.org/amazons-2-5-...

#deceptivedesign #darkpatterns 5/

Now this judgment needs to be codified into law in the upcoming digital fairness act in the EU + rulemaking in the FTC. 4/
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/consultat...

Deceptive Patterns (aka Dark Patterns) - spreading awareness since 2010 The original website about deceptive patterns (also known as “dark patterns”) - tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn't mean to, like buying or signing up for somethin...

⚠️ Every year consumers on both sides of the Atlantic fall pray to similar practices, losing money and giving away more personal data than they intend. 3/

TACD and 16 members take action against Amazon's use of dark patterns On January 14th, 2020, a total 17 of consumer groups took action against the use of dark patterns by Amazon. The action was based on the report by the NCC.

👉 On 14.01.2021, consumer groups in Europe and the US filed coordinated complaints to the European Commission and the FTC against Amazon for making it significantly harder to cancel a subscription than to start one. 2/

--> tacd.org/tacd-and-16-...

FTC Secures Historic $2.5 Billion Settlement Against Amazon The Federal Trade Commission has secured a historic order with Amazon.com, Inc., as well as Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay and Vice President Jamil Ghani, settling allegations that Amazon enrol

💥 Today, the FTC and Amazon announced a landmark settlement with a record $2.5 billion fine, incl $1.5 billion in refunds. This outcome would not have been possible without strong, cross-Atlantic collaboration. Congratulations to the FTC for dedicated work in this case!

www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

If true, this update is astonishing.
The Commission climbed down from a planned break up of Google’s ad business to a mere fine, and then dropped even the fine for fear of offending Trump.

This is for market violations that have been proven in U.S. court.

Google AI search result for “was 2010 fifteen years ago?” returning: “No, 2010 was 14 years ago, not 15 years ago. The current year is 2025, and to find the number of years ago 2010 was, you subtract 2010 from 2025, which equals 14. Current Year: 2025 Past Year: 2010 Years Ago: 2025 - 2010 = 14 years”

Good news about the cutting-edge AI tools from the $3-trillion-dollar company.

In a bizarre turn of events, we might need MORE human therapists to help people deal with the psychological harm of widespread AI chatbot therapy.

Nå trener Snapchat KI på ditt innhold Ditt samtykke ligger inne automatisk. Det kan være ulovlig, mener Forbrukerrådet.

De stor teknologiselskapene tar seg dessverre alt for ofte til rette. Sist ut er Snapchat, som har skrudd på AI-trening på folks "offentlige" innhold på tjenesten. Det er ikke greit og sannsynligvis brudd på flere lover, mener vi i Forbrukerrådet.
www.nrk.no/norge/na-tre...

#personvern #AI #KI

Deleting Tech Enforcement - Public Citizen

4. The Global Impact of Weak US Enforcement 🇺🇸🌍📉
Tech enforcement in the US is crumbling. Reports show regulators dropping cases. Meanwhile, companies flood the market with rights-infringing AI tools. Europe must hold the line.

www.citizen.org/article/dele...

3. Enforcement Delayed, Harm Accelerated ⏳🚫📉
Legal complaints and challenges take years. Companies like Snap and Meta exploit this delay to launch invasive features with impunity. Accountability is stalled. Harm isn’t.

Utah Sues Snapchat For Unleashing Experimental AI Technology On Young Users While Misrepresenting the Safety of the Platform  - dcp.utah.gov SALT LAKE CITY, UT— Today, Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, and the Utah Department of Commerce’s Margaret Busse announced a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. (Snap). Utah all...

2. Vulnerable Users, Deceptive Design 🧒📤🎭
Snapchat nudges teens to share publicly using social pressure and manipulative design. These users are especially vulnerable: dcp.utah.gov/2025/06/30/u...

1. Snapchat’s AI Data Grab: Teens at Risk 🚨👩‍💻🧠
Snapchat quietly launched a genAI chatbot to young users—without safeguards. Now they’re training AI on public content by default.

Snapchat now uses your public Snaps—images, videos, audio, text—to train AI. The setting is turned on by default.

Ban surveillance-based advertising How consumers are exploited by the adtech industry - and what we are doing to make it stop.

Lurer du på hva Grindr-saken egentlig handler om, eller hvordan mye digital markedsføring bryter personvernet vårt, ta en titt på vår samleside:
www.forbrukerradet.no/out-of-contr...
4/

Vi i Forbrukerrådet er i retten alle tre dager og jeg har min frie vitneforklaring onsdag. 3/

➡️ Mer informasjon om saken her: www.domstol.no/no/nar-gar-r...

#personvern #gdpr #adtech #markedsføring

❗ Denne saken er viktig fordi vi ønsker at det settes en stopper for å dele folks sensitive personopplysninger ukontrollert med tusenvis av aktører, samt stramme inn forståelsen for hva som er regnes som et gyldig samtykke. 2/

⚠️ Neste uke går Grindr-saken for retten for andre gang i Oslo fra *tirsdag til torsdag*. Vi klaget i januar 2020 inn Grindr til Datatilsynet for brudd på personopplysningsloven. Siden da har saken fått medhold i hos Datatilsynet, Personvernnemda og i Tingretten. Grindr har anket videre. 1/

This single "OK" to Amazon's data free-for-all is precisely what we warned the European Commission, Parliament, and Council about when the DMA was being negotiated...
www.iccl.ie/news/privacy...

👉 So, it should have been no surprise for security authorities that this is a digital vulnerability they should have planned for. It also show yet again, that we need to see commercial data use in relation with other issues, such as national security. 5&end/

Russian commander killed while jogging may have been tracked on Strava app | CNN A Russian submarine commander shot to death while jogging on Monday may have been targeted by an assailant tracking him on a popular running app, according to Russian media.

Since then there has been a stream of revelations where these heatmaps are involved (among them the assassination of a Russian ex-navy commander in 2023 whose training routine was supposedly used to target him). 4/ edition.cnn.com/2023/07/11/e...

The Strava Heat Map Shows Even Militaries Can't Keep Secrets from Social Data The US military is reexamining security policies after fitness tracker data shared on social media revealed bases and patrol routes

These maps were also given lots of attention when they revealed army bases in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2018. 3/ www.wired.com/story/strava...

We have previously criticized Strava for having these heatmaps, as they can easily be used to re-identify people, as we wrote in our 2016 (!) report Appfail. 2/

www.forbrukerradet.no/appfail-en/

🤯 Fitness app Strava is yet again in the spotlight, or may I say users of Strava. This time it is the security detail of the Swedish prime minister and the royal family that in-advertently reveal secret locations by using this app. 1/
www.theguardian.com/world/2018/j...
#privacy #opsec

Deregulation Watch | Corporate Europe Observatory Check out our new posts on Deregulation Watch which helps civil society monitor new developments in the deregulation agenda, assess what’s at stake, and organise in defence of strong social, environme...

As the EU Commission announces ever more new deregulation initiatives, it's no surprise that industry smells blood and starts lobbying for re-opening of legislation they dislike

Now industry is even targeting a crucial directive on wastewater treatment 💦🚨

www.corporateeurope.org/en/deregulat...

YouTube video by Jon Worth Jon Worth is live

Listen to @jonworth.eu talking live in Oslo about #CrossBorderRail - lessons from borders: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y726...

Welcome to Oslo! Look forward!

Is Meta breaking the LAW with its plan to train its AI models using people's personal data? Our 🇳🇴 member Forbrukerradet has written to Meta arguing that it is. Big development! The pressure is increasing on Meta as more organisations raise their voice against its plans...

Det han trodde var hemmelig

Hvor høy pris skal vi betale for tilpasset reklame?
NRK har klart å spore og kontakte en Grindr-bruker vha data delt av dem og andre apper. Man trenger ikke veldig mye fantasi for å skjønne hvor skummelt dette er. @ingridstolps.bsky.social og @finnmyrstad.bsky.social peker godt på det.
Må leses 👇

Beklager seint svar. Umiddelbart tenker jeg en sak for Datatilsynet å vurdere, men min umiddelbare magereaksjon er: ikke kosher. Avhenger litt på informasjon, reell valgfrihet, lagring og hva de eventuelt bruker det til.