The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has paid $792,000 in penalties following action by he ACCC over breaches of the Consumer Data Right (CDR). It’s the second time in six months that a major bank has been busted for dragging its feet over CDR, also known as open banking, which launched in Australia 5.5 years ago. NAB… Read more »
The federal government has appointed data scientist Dr Ian Oppermann as a commissioner of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC). Dr Oppermann, the keynote speaker at this year’s Startup Daily Best in Tech awards, was previously NSW Government’s inaugural Chief Data Scientist, a startup founder and CSIRO director and entrepreneur-in-residence, and a pioneer of… Read more »
Google Asia Pacific will pay $55 million in penalties for engaging in anti-competitive conduct over a deal it struck with Telstra and Optus to only pre-install Google Search on Android phones the telcos sold. The fine was ratified by the Federal Court today, following legal action from the competition watchdog the ACCC. The search giant… Read more »
Microsoft will offer refunds after admitting that it “fell short of our standards” by failing to inform users of the Microsoft 365 productivity suite that they could have stayed with a cheaper version of the suite that did not include the tech giant’s Copilot AI features. The move relates to the October 2024 introduction of… Read more »
The competition regulator alleged Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plan subscribers were told to either pay higher prices for Copilot or cancel.
This was false or misleading, the ACCC claims, because there was an undisclosed third option for subscribers to keep their existing ‘classic’ plan, without Copilot or the markup in price.
The only way customers could find out about the ‘classic’ plans was when they opted to cancel their subscription because that was when a new page appeared offering the option to switch to the ‘classic’ plan instead.
Competition watchdog the ACCC has struck a deal with Google over anti-competitive behaviour in a deal with Telstra and Optus to pre-instal Google Search on Android mobile phones, agreeing to a $55 million penalty. The deal now needs to be ratified by the Federal Court, which will decide if the penalty is appropriate. Google co-operated… Read more »
Australia’s competition regulator says the dominance of the country’s three major cloud computing providers — Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) — means such companies could be incentivised to engage in anti-competitive behaviour, potentially increasing risks to consumers and the wider market. The major cloud providers — often called ‘hyperscalers’ due to their capacity… Read more »
Fintechs often complain quietly, lest they cop blowback, than one of the things that’s slowing the roll out of the Consumer Data Right (CDR), aka Open Banking, is that the major banks are dragging their feet. Well, the competition watchdog thinks so too, and National Australia Bank (NAB) has copped $751,200 in penalties after the… Read more »
Up to 63,000 Australians who used Airbnb between January 2018 and August 2021 may be eligible for compensation after the platform admitted it misled people by quoting prices for Australian accomodation in US dollars. The Federal Court has also hit Airbnb Ireland – the parent company that runs the Australian operations, including the website and… Read more »
US-based Fitbit has been ordered to pay an $11 million penalty in a Federal Court case brought by the ACCC for making false, misleading or deceptive representations to 58 users about their refund or replacement rights when a device was faulty. It’s the second time a Fitbit Group company has fallen foul of the consumer… Read more »
Two subsidiaries of social media giant Meta, Facebook Israel and Onavo Inc, have been fined $10 million each for misleading conduct, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law, over a virtual private network (VPN) service that was used to gather data on users and share it with Facebook’s marketing team. Consumer watchdog the ACCC launched… Read more »
ASX-listed tradesperson platform Hipages Group has conceded to regulator the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that it potentially engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct over four years involving its subscription renewals and termination fees. The ACCC said the company’s actions were in breach of the Australian Consumer Law between October 2018 to January 2022… Read more »
Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to financial scammers in 2022. However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) suggests the real figure is likely much higher, with an estimated 30% of scams going unreported. The findings come from the watchdog’s Targeting Scams report, which combines data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange… Read more »
Australian lawyers are seeking app developers to join a class action against Google and Apple over what they claim is an abuse of market power by charging 30% commissions on in-app spending while preventing competitive payment alternatives. The class action reflects similar legal action launched in 2020 by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, against the… Read more »
The five largest tech giants may be using ‘dark patterns’ to prevent consumers from adopting online services from competitors, the ACCC has warned as it solicits feedback on a new issues paper exploring the companies’ entrance into a diverse range of markets. Recent years have seen Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, and Google… Read more »
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