It was reported that Italy’s competition authority has launched an investigation into Apple, Google, and Dropbox over their contracts for cloud computing services. According to the report, the investigation is focused on the cloud services Dropbox, Apple iCloud and Google Drive. The investigation was opened after several complaints alleging unfair commercial practices and possible presence of unfair clauses in the contractual terms and conditions by the tech giants. The investigation also include alleged violations of Italy’s Consumer Rights Directive. The three companies were accused of unfair practices by failing to inform users when their data is being collected for commercial purposes, rights for providers to suspend service, liability exemptions in the event of loss of documents stored in the cloud space and the prevalence of the English version of the contract text over the Italian version. Two years ago, Apple was found guilty for intentional slowing down of iPhones with older batteries. Apple appealed against the decision but did not succeed. Also in 2018, Facebook was fined €10 million by European Union antitrust regulators for misleading users over the company’s data practices.
Source: Viewers Corner News.