At a glance.
- EU court orders Google to remove false search results.
- Australia’s strategy for awakening from its cyber slumber.
- Netherlands to join US in Chinese tech export ban.
EU court orders Google to remove false search results.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled Google must delete search results if they prove the information is “manifestly inaccurate.” The plaintiffs in the case, two investment managers, requested Google to remove the results of a search that brought up articles (which the plaintiffs claim are inaccurate) criticizing their investment group’s business model. The court decision means the investment managers have the right to initiate the General Data Protection Regulation’s “right to be forgotten” rule. The court stated, “The right to freedom of expression and information cannot be taken into account where, at the very least, a part – which is not of minor importance – of the information found in the referenced content proves to be inaccurate.” A Google spokesperson told POLITICO the company welcomes the decision and that they’ve already removed the search results in question.
Australia’s strategy for awakening from its cyber slumber.
In the wake of a series of high-profile cyberattacks targeting major Australian organizations, Australia’s minister for home affairs and cyber security Clare O’Neil told the National Press Club on Thursday that officials are working on a new cybersecurity strategy. A main focus will be securing the country’s critical infrastructure, and leading the charge will be Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre CEO Rachael Falk, former Telstra CEO Andy Penn, and former Chief of Air Force Mel Hupfeld. UK National Cyber Security Centre CEO and Oxford University professor Ciaran Martin will also helm a panel of global experts. O’Neil referenced former prime minister Scott Morrison’s decision to abolish the cyber security ministry as evidence that the country has been in a “cyber slumber.” Sky News reports that O’Neil went on to say, “A lot of patchiness around cyber security in Australia and those two things can exist at once … the goal of the cyber strategy is to bring the nation into this fight.” O’Neil said her plans include improving international engagements, bolstering the cyber capabilities of critical infrastructure and government networks, and building sovereign cyber security capabilities. She noted that these endeavors will be expensive, and that she feels the country has not been investing enough in its cyber-readiness. Proofpoint’s senior director in Asia-Pacific and Japan Adrian Covich told Computer Weekly, “The federal government’s announcement of a new cyber security strategy for a cyber-secure Australia is a timely and necessary development that we hope will play a critical role in bolstering Australia’s cyber resilience.”
Netherlands to join US in Chinese tech export ban.
Insiders say the Netherlands could strike a deal as early as next month potentially aligning their trade rules with US efforts to restrict Chinese access to chip-making equipment. China is the Netherlands’ third-largest trade partner, and after the US, the Netherlands and Japan are the world’s top suppliers of machinery necessary for the production of advanced semiconductors. Last month Senior US National Security Council official Tarun Chhabra and Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez engaged Netherlands officials in talks about export control, and on Tuesday Estevez said that the US discussions with allies, though still a “work in progress,” have been “very, very positive.” Yahoo Finance notes that ASML uses US-made components, and American officials recently threatened to ban the sale of foreign equipment containing US technologies to China if allies do not comply with the US’s new export-control measures. Reuters explains that since 2018, the Dutch government has not granted Dutch semiconductor giant ASML Holdings licenses to export its most advanced machines to China, stating the equipment is considered “dual use” with potential military applications. The new deal would codify and possibly expand this ban.
