Australia to probe Google, Facebook over media disruption

Australia's competition regulator said on Monday it would investigate whether U.S. online giants Facebook and Alphabet's Google had disrupted the news media to the detriment of publishers and consumers.

Like their rivals globally, Australia's traditional media companies have been squeezed by online rivals, as advertising dollars have followed eyeballs to digital distributors such as Google, Facebook and Netflix.

The government ordered the probe as part of wider media reforms, amid growing concern for the future of journalism and the quality of news following years of

UK class action accuses Google of unlawfully harvesting personal data

More than 5 million people in the UK could be entitled to compensation from Google if a class action against the internet giant for allegedly harvesting personal data is successful.

A group led by the former executive director of consumer body Which?, Richard Lloyd, and advised by City law firm Mischon de Reya claims Google unlawfully collected personal information by bypassing the default privacy settings on the iPhone between June 2011 and February 2012.

They have launched a legal action with the aim of securing compensation for those affected. The group, called Google You Owe Us, says that approximately 5.4 million

Google could be forced to pay £2.7 billion in compensation to iPhone users

Google could be forced to pay over five million iPhone users £2.7 billion in compensation as it is accused of selling their data without their consent.

A new consumer campaign called "Google You Owe Us" is launching a class action against the web giant over allegedly unlawfully harvesting the browsing histories of iPhone users without their permission.

A group of at least 5.4 million affected consumers could be owed hundreds of pounds each in compensation, according to Richard Lloyd, former Which? executive director and Government adviser, who is spearheading the action.

If successful the case would be the biggest compensation bill ever paid to British consumers over improper use of data. A claim by 5.4 million people for £500 each