SOMI Newsletter - January 17th, 2022
This is the newsletter for January 2022 from the Foundation for Market Information Research to its relations, including the participants in its actions, its investors and sympathizers.
Collectieve Data Request - Zoom
We are delighted to announce that Zoom Video Communications has complied with our request to provide copies of personal data that belong to our participants. We have contacted those participants individually with the instruction to download the data securely from my.somi portal or from SOMI app.
In August 2021, SOMI has launched a collective data request campaign against three tech giants: TikTok, Palantir, and Zoom, represented by the law firm SOLV and Douwe Linders as SOMI's lawyer. The purpose of this campaign is to request the personal data collected by these companies on behalf of our participating consumers.
Zoom has responded to SOMI’s lawyer on 29th of October, stating that due to the complexity of the request, pursuant to Article 12(3) GDPR of its intention to take additional time to respond to SOMI’s letter, not to exceed two additional months. They also asked SOMI to provide additional details of some of our users participating in the request.
This marks the first victory of SOMI's actions against foreign tech companies that process the personal data on millions of European citizens. We applaud Zoom Video Communications for following the GDPR guidelines and respecting the individual's 'right of access’ by providing a copy of their personal data.
SOMI supports European citizens to return the personal data back to where it belongs so that we, as a citizen, can make our own decisions about it. Personal data is valuable. Possession of personal data is necessary for the individual's autonomy.
Best regards,
SOMI
All your data. All yours.
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News
Upcoming: TikTok trial on 2nd February 2022
Due to a development on our collective claim against TikTok in which two other foundations, Take Back Your Privacy and Massaschade & Consument, have also filed claims for damages against TikTok. TikTok's lawyer has argued that these two foundations have not adhered to a statutory period of three-months when issuing their summonses and that their summonses are invalid. As a result, the court allows the two foundations reissue their summonses and, thus, the next trial occasion will be on 2nd February 2022. More information
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Blog
WhatsApp is not playing the game smart
The year 2021 is an annus horribilis for WhatsApp. Almost everything that could go wrong has actually gone wrong. It already went wrong in January. Then the platform announced its new privacy policy. The bottom line was that anyone who wanted to (continue to) actively use WhatsApp had to allow the company to pass on all the user's data to the parent company Facebook.
WhatsApp has actually been doing this since 2016, but the intention was that the mother company would also have access to the payment and transaction behavior of WhatsApp users.
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About SOMI
The Foundation for Market Information Research (SOMI) is a non-profit organization set up to identify and influence issues of social importance.
SOMI is a recognized claims foundation in the field of privacy and data autonomy and is committed, among other things, to the protection of the fundamental rights of consumers and minors who use various online services. With the app that SOMI has developed, we want to restore ownership and control over personal data to all the people: All your data. all yours.
SOMI investigates abuses, informs the public and helps injured parties. SOMI does this by conducting collective proceedings and claiming compensation.
SOMI is currently investigating alleged GDPR violations by Facebook and TikTok.