Maine House Passes What Would Be Toughest US Data Privacy Law

On a 71-68 vote the Maine House yesterday sent LD 1822 - "An Act to Enact the Maine Online Data Privacy Act" - on to the Senate, where a vote could be taken as early as Tuesday next week.

If this bill becomes law it will go further than any state data privacy law now in effect to limit the use of consumers' personal data in marketing.

Internet companies controlling or processing personal data of 35,000 or more Maine consumers would fall under the jurisdiction of the Act.

On top of the rights given to consumers in existing laws of other states, the Maine act would give consumers the right to obtain a list of all third parties to whom their personal data have been provided.

Consumers would also have the right to opt out of the use of their personal data for certain purposes including targeted advertising, selling, and profiling to be used to support automated processes which can produce legal or other significant effects for the consumer.

Furthermore the Act would permit the Maine Attorney General to proceed with enforcement actions against data controllers and processors without advance notice or an opportunity to make corrections.

If this Act would harm your business in any way, get on the phone to your State Senator and Representative before Tuesday please..

Alphabet Stock Surges as Google Gets to Keep Chrome

In his final ruling on the antitrust suit brought against Google by the US Department of Justice, US District Court Judge for the District of Columbia Amit Mehta rejected as remedies - proposed by DOJ- (1) forcing the sale of Chrome, and (2) requiring Google to cease getting large payments from Apple, Samsung and other device manufacturers for using Google as their default search engine.

Alphabet investors saw this result as just a slap on the wrist for Google, sending the stock up by 8%.

But also per Judge Mehta's ruling, Google must share its index and user interaction data with competitors. This change has the potential to enable competitors to develop better search algorithms and ultimately take search share from Google.

Google is expected to appeal the ruling, but avoiding the Chrome sale is clearly a victory for Alphabet.

Will competitors be able to take advantage of the break they've been given? Stay tuned.

The Canadian Department of Finance at the last minute announced the cancellation of a planned Digital Services Tax (DST) which had been scheduled to go into effect 30 June 2025.

This happened 48 hours after US President Donald Trump - who called the tax a "blatant attack" on US tech giants - suspended trade talks with Canada.

The DST would have applied retroactively to 1 January 2022 to revenues collected by US tech companies in excess of $20M from Canadian customers for:

• Online marketplace services
• Online advertising revenue
• Social media services
• Sales of user data

As of 30 June 2025, tax owed by US companies would have been around $2.7 billion.

US-Canada trade talks are now back on track for reaching an agreement on trade and tariffs by 21 July.

Canadian exports of steel and aluminum to the US are currently subject to a 50% tariff which is problematic for Canadian producers.

DOJ proposes separating Google search from Chrome and Android

The US Department of Justice - headed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, pictured above - following a decision against Google in its most recent antitrust trial - has filed with the US District Court in DC a "proposed remedy framework" that would force the search giant to separate its search services from the Chrome browser and the Android operating system.

Intent is to prevent Google from using Chrome and Android to create and sustain advantage over competitors in the search arena.

DOJ also proposes requiring Google to share its search algorithms with competitors.

In the latest antitrust decision against Google, District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google had violated antitrust laws by paying companies like Apple and Mozilla to make Chrome the default search engine on their web browsers and Android devices.

Google argues that what the DOJ proposes would have "significant unintended consequences" for consumers, businesses and American competitiveness, including raising the cost of internet devices and services and threatening users' privacy and security.

Some legal experts have expressed the opinion that if DOJ attempts to force the breakup of Google, a court could well find that to be improper, because less extreme measures were not first pursued - as happened when DOJ proposed the breakup of Microsoft 20 years ago.

Will DOJ attempt to break up Google? If so, what then? Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, back in the EU...

While Google has been facing multiple antitrust suits brought in the US by the DOJ and various state Attorneys General, things are no quieter in the European Union.

The European Court of Justice - the EU's highest court - earlier this month denied Google's appeal of a 2.4 billion euro fine originally levied by the European Commission in 2017 in a suit first brought by UK-based Foundem in 2009, when the UK was still part of the EU. This suit accused Google of abusing the market dominance of its shopping comparison service. Google expressed "disappointment" with the ruling. Score one for the EU.

But then last week, the European General Court overturned a 1.5 billion euro antitrust fine assessed to Google, saying that the European Commission had made "errors in its assessment" of the scope and duration of Google's advertising contracts with publisher, that the EU Competition Authority had not succeeded in establishing that Google was abusing its dominant position, and that the ruling against Google might have harmed consumers.

And, in a probably not unrelated happening, the Danish government announced that it will not be nominating Google's arch-nemesis - responsible for 3 antitrust suits and 8.25 billion euros in fines against the company since 2017 - Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager for a third term. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instead has announced that Spanish Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge Minister Teresa Ribera Rodriguez will replace Ms. Vestager as competition honcho. Earlier this year, following a dispute with French President Emmanuel Macron over her choice of a chief economist, Ms. Vestager failed in a bid to head the European Investment Bank after France did not support her candidacy.

Score two for Google.