EU Court’s Ruling Opens Door To More Regulatory Scrutiny Of Facebook, Big Tech

The European Court Of Justice, the EU’s highest court, has ruled that national regulatory agencies can act against alleged privacy violations by Facebook and other big tech companies even when they’re not the respective lead regulators, Reuters said.

Many large American tech companies – Facebook, Google, Apple, and Twitter – have planted their EU headquarters in Ireland, making them subject to the Irish data protection regulator under the rules of an EU privacy law called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

The problem is, quite a few national regulatory agencies in other EU countries have complained that their Irish counterpart has been taking too long to decide on cases. Ireland, on the other hand, has claimed that it needs to be especially meticulous when dealing with powerful, cash-flush companies. 

This apparently came to a head when Facebook contested the territorial competence of a Belgian privacy watchdog which had pursued legal action against the social media company. Consequently, a Belgian court sought guidance on the matter from the EU Court of Justice.

“Under certain conditions, a national supervisory authority may exercise its power to bring any alleged infringement of the GDPR before a court of a member state, even though that authority is not the lead supervisory authority,” the EU court ruled.

Big tech companies have been beginning to feel the pinch as governments around the world take a more critical view of their dealings and practices. Even on their home ground in America, legislators have been increasingly vocal against the anti-competitive power of Silicon Valley giants.

Uber Reclassifies All UK Drivers As Workers After Supreme Court Ruling

Uber will be reclassifying all of its 70,000 UK drivers as workers, Bloomberg reported. This means Uber drivers will get minimum wage, vacation pay, and other benefits. The move follows a growing push for gig worker rights around the world – including in Malaysia, where they still lack legal rights.

Uber’s move, which is currently restricted to the UK, was prodded by an unanimous labour-friendly ruling by the country’s highest court last month. The e-hailing pioneer said it would base minimum wage payment on time after drivers accept trip requests via the app.

This still falls short of what some drivers are demanding – that minimum wage is paid from the moment they log into the app until they log off. And drivers won’t enjoy the full rights of employees, who exist in a separate legal category and are entitled to rights like severance pay.

Regardless, the UK court ruling and Uber’s response remain significant, raising questions of when gig workers in Malaysia will receive similar protections and benefits.

As The Star noted, Malaysian gig workers currently aren’t recognised as employees by law – so things like minimum wage, working hours limitations, paid annual and sick leave, and unfair dismissal does not apply to them.

In fact, Grab’s Terms of Service took pains to emphasise that drivers aren’t employees of the company, but “third party providers” that the company connects to users.

So gig workers like e-hailing drivers are presently in a sort of legal limbo in Malaysia. Because they don’t fit the standard definitions of an employee, they’re also unlikely to find relief in our labour courts if they have a complaint.

The government has been mulling new laws to fix this situation, but nothing has materialised thus far.