Stibbe legal partner Accenture Innovation Awards

Short Reads - The first year of the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") is over. Although early noises predicted an entirely new data protection regime, the European legal framework did not change substantially, the major changes being an expansion of the territorial scope to non-EU countries and stronger powers of enforcement. In spite of fears and rumours of immediate enforcement and huge fines, most regulators focused on helping companies achieve compliance, or they enforced without directly imposing fines.

Short Reads - The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has announced that it is opening an  investigation into whether Apple abuses the position it has attained with its App Store. The investigation will initially focus on news apps.

Short Reads - As part of the digital economy, the rise of online platforms and search engines raises all kinds of legal questions. For example, do bicycle couriers qualify as employees who are entitled to ordinary labour law protections? Or should they be considered self-employed (see our Stibbe website on this issue)? The rise of online platforms also triggers more general legal questions on the relationship between online platforms and their users. Importantly, the European Union is becoming increasingly active in this field.

Inside Stibbe - Disruptive mobility-startup Hardt is the second company in 2019 that joins the Stibbe StartsUP programme. As a winner of Elon Musk's 'SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition', Hardt will be able to benefit from legal expertise provided by Stibbe on a range of issues.