Jack Hain’s Insights on: Amazon and Google Face New European Problems

European regulators have a storied history of taking American tech companies to task under the region’s comparatively restrictive anticompetition rules and regulations. If recent investigations and rulings are any indication, the latest generation of technology titans (e.g., Amazon, Google, Facebook) are finding out the hard way that, though their medium may have changed, the message remains the same: Regulators in Europe are prepared to take a hard line on American tech companies to maintain competitive markets. Similarly, the recent implementation of GDPR signals a regional push for increased regulation and enforcement around ensuring consumer privacy, a rising concern closely tied to the ongoing explosion of social media usage.

American technologist Peter Thiel chalks these legal efforts up to “jealousy” over the lack of European tech powerhouses, a stance which is arguably undercut by record levels of investment in European tech firms. Irrespective of the cause, new entrants to the European technology market should be cognizant of Europe’s ongoing role as a global force in technology regulation. While we are likely well shy of triggering antitrust concerns, FreedomPay’s European expansion is underway, and we are proud to offer PCI-validated, point-to-point encryption (P2PE) solutions to our European merchants. In this way we can enable these merchants to meet PCI DSS requirements for keeping cardholder data private and secure.