News

TikTok Fined $93K By Turkey For Inadequate Data Protection

TikTok has been penalized by authorities for failing to ensure adequate security to prevent the unlawful processing of personal data.

Published

1 year ago

March 2, 2023

Nour Nasir

tiktok fined $93000 by turkey for inadequate data protection

Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) has announced that a fine of $93,000 has been levied against TikTok for failing to safeguard users, stating that the company “did not take all necessary measures to ensure the appropriate level of security to prevent unlawful processing of personal data”.

Recently, the TikTok app was banned from being installed on the devices of US, EU and Canadian government officials over security concerns and follows increasing global criticism of how the popular video site manages and shares data.

The platform, which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, insists it operates no differently from other social media firms and says it would never comply with a data transfer order.

Also Read: MENA’s Biggest Online Piracy Site Shahed4U Shuts Down

In addition to data protection issues, the KVKK stated that TikTok must translate its terms of service into Turkish and update privacy and cookie policies to comply with the country’s laws.

According to the latest figures, Turkey ranks at ninth place for the most users of TikTok worldwide, with over 30 million accounts registered on the video-sharing platform.

News

Binance Receives Virtual Assets License To Operate In Dubai

As its user base nears 200 million, CEO Richard Teng believes crypto adoption will soar over the next half of the decade.

Published

11 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Nour Nasir

binance receives virtual assets license to operate in dubai

Global crypto exchange Binance has been granted a full operational license in Dubai, in a move that’s expected to accelerate digital asset adoption and strengthen the UAE’s regulatory landscape.

The virtual asset service provider license (VASP) was granted by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and will allow Binance to extend its current range of services to retail investors, the company announced yesterday.

The move by Dubai authorities will be critical to Binance’s strategy of growing its user base globally. The crypto exchange expects to pass the 200 million user mark “quite shortly”, according to Richard Teng, the company’s CEO.

Once that milestone is achieved, Binance will have around twice as many users as rival platform Coinbase. Meanwhile, Crypto.com, another popular exchange with 80 million users, received a Dubai VASP license last week.

“We’re seeing much greater institutional adoption and institutional money coming into this space [along with] much greater regulatory clarity and a lot more jurisdictions approving [digital asset] products that bring in new investor classes,” Binance’s Richard Tang explained, adding: “As of now, we stand at about 5% crypto adoption globally, but that will become much faster moving forward”.

Also Read: Microsoft Invests $1.5 Billion In Abu Dhabi AI Tech Firm G42

Dubai and the UAE are extremely supportive of technologies like digital assets, and have already launched initiatives to boost adoption. The UAE has ambitious plans to become a world leader in the crypto economy of the future, with Dubai in particular being noteworthy for passing a new law to regulate virtual assets to support investors and exchanges.

“Global crypto regulation is currently showing diverging signs. Some developed countries have long suffered from crypto-related frauds and illegal exchanges. On the other hand, emerging nations like the UAE and Singapore have enacted crypto laws at faced pace,” said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer of Dubai-based Century Financial.

As the UAE gears up to become one of the fastest-growing crypto capitals worldwide, investors and talent are flocking to places like Dubai. During 2023, the Emirates as a whole realized $204 million in capital gains from cryptocurrency investments, according to blockchain data analysts Chainalysis.