Big tech under scanner over data privacy; Microsoft buys data governance firm BlueTalon

Big tech companies, once considered consumer champions, are now apparently moving to the dark side of capitalism, a new report says. Microsoft has bought BlueTalon for an undisclosed amount. 

Big tech to face multiple regulatory compliance in the future

Big tech companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple have persistently avoided accountability for data breaches, according to GlobalData, a UK-based data analytics and research organisation.

The firm’s latest report Data Privacy-thematic research has also accused big tech companies of not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation, drug abuse and terrorist activities on their platforms. 

The report added the companies will be facing regulatory issues in 10 such areas in the coming years with data privacy being the centre of attention.

Tech companies were once deemed consumer champions but big tech now appears to be the new dark side of capitalism, arguably presenting a bigger risk to society than bankers were in 2007, the report said. 

Advertising companies and Internet companies will be impacted the most from increased regulation as they rely on advertising-funded revenue models, which in turn rely heavily on collecting user data.

GlobalData also pointed out that several antitrust regulators have now moved from investigating abuse of power in product markets to look into how the companies use customer data. 

“While compliance costs for big tech are almost certain to rise in the short-medium term, these companies will still have a rosy future in the long run, thanks to their resources and ability to adapt,” Laura Petrone, senior analyst, GlobalData, said.

Microsoft buys data privacy and governance startup BlueTalon

Microsoft announced in a blogpost that it has acquired BlueTalon, a startup that provides unified data access control solutions for data platforms. 

BlueTalon provides solutions to eliminate data security blind spots for Fortune 100 companies. Neither Microsoft nor BlueTalon have disclosed the financial details of the transaction. 

“This acquisition will enhance our ability to empower enterprises across industries to digitally transform while ensuring right use of data with centralized data governance at scale through Azure,” Rohan Kumar, corporate vice president, Azure Data at Microsoft, said.

UCC providers need to offer competitive hybrid offerings

Unified communication and collaboration (UCC) providers will have to offer competitive hybrid cloud solutions if they want to stay relevant and penetrate into newer markets, according to a report by Frost and Sullivan.

The report said the UCC industry revenues in the services segment will likely rise to 66.5% in 2020 from 59.9% in 2018.

However, the platforms and endpoint segments are forecast to decline from 20.9% and 19.2% in 2018 to 16.4% and 17.1% by 2020, respectively.

The total global UCC revenues is expected to hit $40.7 billion in 2020, up from $34.4 billion in 2018.

"Advanced solutions such as AI, software-defined networking (SDN), and Internet of Things (IoT) are emerging crucial purchase factors,"  Robert Arnold, principal analyst, digital transformation, Frost and Sullivan, said.