fine

Brussels has just fined Temu the largest fine in its history with the Digital Services Law: 200 million euros

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This Thursday, the European Commission sanctioned the Chinese e-commerce platform with the largest fine imposed so far under the Digital Services Law. Brussels considers that Temu has not been able to detect or stop the sale of dangerous items reaching European consumers, from chargers to baby toys. What exactly happened. Brussels accuses Temu of “not having identified, analyzed or evaluated with due diligence the systemic risks” derived from offering illegal products on its website, ensuring that this practice entails “potential harm” to EU users. This violates the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European regulation that forces large platforms to monitor what circulates through their services. The 200 million exceed the 120 that prevailed over the social network last December, so far the highest penalty under this regulation. No filters. The Commission maintains that this is not a specific case of defective products, but rather a failure in the platform’s own security system. In the words of the Executive“the evidence collected indicates that European consumers are very likely to encounter illegal items in Temu.” The problem, therefore, would not be in a specific seller, but in the company’s inability to filter what it sells. In detail. The research has been supported by several sources. The main one was a “secret shopping” exercise commissioned from an independent contractor, who has carried out laboratory tests on items chosen at random. The results, according to Brusselswere worrying in three categories: Electric chargers: a very high percentage did not pass basic safety tests, with the risk of short circuits and burns. Toys and objects for babies: Many presented medium or high severity hazards, either because they contained chemicals above legal limits or because of the risk of suffocation due to detached parts. Jeweler’s: Irregularities were also detected. According to the statement, these data were compared with customs controls of the Member States and with the European market surveillance database (ICSMS). The three routes, according to the Commission, showed “high or very high” percentages of non-compliant products, although the organization has decided not to publish the exact figures. Product bombing. In addition to the products, Brussels focuses on the technology of the platform. The Commission criticizes that Temu did not evaluate how the design of its own service (recommendation systems and promotional campaigns run by affiliated influencers) could be amplifying the dissemination of these articles. Furthermore, according to the agency, the company based its 2024 risk assessment on generic information from the sector and not on evidence on its own website, ignoring external studies (such as reports from consumer associations in Denmark and Finland) that already warned of the problem. What Brussels says. “Temu’s risk assessment underestimates specific risks, lacks detail, is not based on solid evidence and is not comprehensive,” counted the vice president of the Commission responsible for Technological Sovereignty, Henna Virkkunen. The Finnish commissioner insists that these analyzes “are not mere bureaucratic procedures”, but the backbone of the DSA. How much does the fine weigh? Although the figure is relatively large, represents only 0.38% of Temu’s estimated turnover for 2025 (calculated at around €53 billion), very far from the 6% limit allowed by regulations. The Commission justifies this moderation because the sanction is “proportionate” to other aspects that remain under investigation. The situation has been brewing since 2024based on complaints from the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) and 17 of its national associations. And now what. Temu has three months to pay and until August 28 of this year to submit a “corrective action plan.” That document will then be reviewed by the European Committee for Digital Services, which will have one month to issue a response. After that, the Commission will have another month to set the final decision and on what date the fine will be applied. If the company does not correct course, it is exposed to periodic fines (daily, weekly or monthly) until it complies. The company can appeal to the European courts, but Brussels has already warned that the fine is final and does not intend to lower it even if the company corrects its behavior. Cover image | François Genon and own assembly In Xataka | Europe is already cherishing what was always a dream: the industrial manufacturing of qubits for quantum machines

LaLiga wanted to fine VPNs that did not block IPs during matches. A court has been set up

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LaLiga has been waging an all-out war against football piracy for months and, with the support of a court ruling obtained in 2025, LaLiga had the power to ask operators to block certain IP addresses. The result? Websites that stumbled on match days due to some locks which were a clear example of kill flies with cannon shots. In a process in which it seemed that no one could stop these actions, LaLiga They got it in February of this year what seemed like another victory: a court in Córdoba ordered NordVPN and ProtonVPN Block certain IPs. Not even the judges themselves They knew if that could be done. and VPN tools evidently responded. Now another court in Córdoba has put some sense into all this, dismissing LaLiga’s request to impose fines on VPN platforms for failing to comply with the indiscriminate blocking order. The twist in the story of LaLiga and VPN blocks Through a release On its website, one of the companies affected by the initial ruling (NordVPN) has commented on the result of the ruling of the Commercial Court of Córdoba in what they have described as the dismissal of the request to impose coercive fines on NordVPN. The statement they have shared is the following: On May 19, 2026, the Commercial Court of Córdoba rejected LaLiga’s request to impose coercive fines on NordVPN for alleged non-compliance with the precautionary blocking order issued in February 2026. NordVPN had already warned at the time that the order was not technically viable without harming thousands of legitimate websites in Spain and abroad. Now, the court has accepted the independent technical evidence presented by NordVPN and ruled that it cannot be concluded that the company violated the order deliberately and without justification. The order issued in February required NordVPN to block a list of IP addresses that allegedly hosted unauthorized La Liga broadcasts. NordVPN’s technical experts have shown that target IP addresses change constantly, often within hours, meaning that the lists supplied do not correspond to the actual addresses at the time the blocking can be implemented. It was also demonstrated that the massive blocking at the IP level would have left thousands of completely legitimate websites without access for users in Spain and outside of it. After considering the conflicting expert reports, the court found a genuine technical dispute and ruled that the fines were not justified. It goes on to detail that this is a procedural resolution in the preliminary phase, so it does not resolve the underlying issue: the entire procedure that is still ongoing. nordVPN points out that it will continue to collaborate with the Spanish courts and points out that cloudflareone of the most affected in all this, also follows its own path of collaboration with the courts. What CloudVPN points out is that they are committed to the legitimate protection of intellectual property and the application of measures, but those measures must be proportionate, technically sound and respectful of both users and services that depend on the shared Internet infrastructure, stating that this massive IP blocking imposed on VPN providers, precisely, lacks all of these aspects. And most importantly, NordVPN points out something that is obvious: these measures “do not stop violators, who adapt in a matter of minutes while imposing real costs on legitimate users, companies and services that have no relation to the dispute.” In Xataka | LaLiga’s massive IP blocks are making life impossible for users, companies and developers. So you can claim

Giving seven times more vitamin D during pregnancy improves children’s memory at 10 years old. The problem is in the fine print

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During pregnancy, the recommendations of supplementation They are an area where science advances with lead feet, since the most important thing is always to guarantee safety. One of these supplements that is heard the most is vitamin Dtraditionally known for its role in calcium absorption and bone health, but which has been in the spotlight for years for its possible impact on neurodevelopment. A new study of Danish origin has put its objective on this statement to be able to clarify what happens when a mother supplements with vitamin D during pregnancy. Through its publication in JAMAtells how, to achieve good results, almost 500 children were analyzed for several years until finally being able to see if they had cognitive improvement during their childhood. What were they based on? To understand this discovery we have to go back in time to a randomized clinical trial titled as COPSAC2010whose initial results were published in 2016. This trial sought to evaluate whether vitamin D prevented the risk of suffering from asthma or persistent wheezing in babies, and to verify this the researchers divided the mothers into two groups from the 24th week of gestation: One group would receive the standard recommended dose of vitamin D of 400 IU per day. The other group had a “megadose” of vitamin D of 2,800 IU daily. The discovery. Taking advantage of this valuable group of 498 children, the research team decided to get more out of it, since when these children reached 10 years of age they were subjected to rigorous cognitive tests to see if the fact of having given vitamin D to their mother during pregnancy had left its mark on their brain. In this way, two objectives were covered with a single investigation. Here the results revealed that children in the high supplementation group showed a modest but significant improvement in verbal and visual memory compared to the children of mothers who took the standard dose of vitamin D. Although something important to note is that it puts to rest any idea that this supplementation is a machine to “create geniuses”, because there were no differences in IQ and they only saw that the ability to retain information was improved. The small print. Given such a finding, it is tempting to think that all pregnant women should multiply their vitamin D intake to give their children an advantage over others. But here we must pay attention to different problems, such as that the original trial was designed to measure respiratory problems and not neurological development. This means that drawing conclusions from here reduces the statistical robustness of the discovery. But this is not the only problem, since we have seen that the effect is “modest” without seeming to give children a great advantage. And furthermore, the study is based on women who already had normal vitamin D levels before the study, so it is not clear how this dose would act in populations that truly have some type of chronic deficiency of the vitamin. Will there be changes? At the moment, these studies do not justify the need to recommend that all pregnant women supplement their diet with vitamin D, as is the case with other supplements such as folic acid. The real value of this research is not to give us an immediate new prescription, but to open the door to future clinical trials specifically designed to unravel how what happens in the womb continues to shape our brains a decade later. Images | amylla battani In Xataka | We have been sending pregnant women to bed for decades as a precaution. Science has just proven that it is a big mistake

Watching the World Cup on a TV is fine, but doing it on a projector of up to 100 inches is another experience.

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There is very little left until the soccer World Cup begins. If you want to renew your television, there are many offers in stores like MediaMarkt. But, if it happens to you like me, you bought it not too long ago and you are looking for something different, you might be interested in a projector like the Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Genwhose price has fallen in PcComponentes to 429 euros. Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A portable and smart projector He Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen It is a projector that has a cylindrical format, allowing us to rotate to project image on wall or ceiling. And all this in a comfortable way. Additionally, the projector base can be connected to an external battery, which is also sold at PcComponentes by 119.09 eurosalthough through an external store. This allows you to increase autonomy, something especially useful if you are going to use the projector outside the home. By itself, the projector has an integrated battery that offers a theoretical autonomy of three hours. Its operating system is Tizenwhich allows you to download some applications through its WiFi connectivity. It supports image formats such as HDR10+ and also incorporates integrated speakers compatible with Dolby Digital Plus. But one of the big draws, especially when it comes to watching football matches in a big way, lies in the size of the image projection, which reaches up to 100 inches. In addition, it is also worth mentioning that the projector comes with a dedicated cinema mode, includes Samsung TV Plus for watching television channels and has microHDMI, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen offer today ✅ THE BEST Your format: The base allows the projector to be rotated to project an image on a wall or ceiling. Your operating system: includes Tizen (the operating system that we see on Samsung televisions), which allows you to download some applications such as Movistar Plus. ❌ THE WORST The shine: We are talking about a projector that, despite being portable, is intended for use at home or in poorly lit environments, since it does not offer particularly high brightness to have a good experience in rooms or places with a lot of ambient light. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for a projector to watch sports, movies and series or enjoy video games on a big screen without having to buy a television. Especially if you also want the projector to allow you to download applications. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are looking for a projector to use in environments with a lot of ambient light, since for this it is necessary that the projector has good luminosity. You may also be interested Nebula Capsule 3 Mini portable projector 1080p, Wi-Fi, 200 ANSI lumens, Google TV, Netflix, Dolby Digital, 120 inch image, built-in battery, 2.5h The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Soundcore Nebula P1 Portable GTV Projector with Detachable Speakers, 650 ANSI Lumens, 1080p, 20 W Real 2.0 Sound, Dolby Audio, Automatic Adjustment, 180” Screen and Carrying Handle The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Samsung In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

the fine print matters as much as the price

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If you were thinking about signing up for PlayStation Plusit may be worth checking the calendar. Sony has announced a price rise for its subscription service, which offers monthly games, online multiplayer and other benefits to users of its consoles. The change comes into effect tomorrow, Tuesday, May 20, although with an important nuance: it will not affect all users equally. The announcement has come through a message posted on X. The Japanese company has indicated that the increase responds to current “market conditions” and that the new rates will start at 10.99 dollars, 9.99 euros and 7.99 pounds for one-month subscriptions, and at 27.99 dollars, 27.99 euros and 21.99 pounds for three-month subscriptions. Click to see the original publication in X The immediate question is which markets exactly this rise will reach. At the moment, Sony has not published a official list of countries not one entry in the PlayStation blog with more details. We only have that message, quite brief, for reference. Sony explains that the new PlayStation Plus prices will only apply to new subscribers in “select regions.” It also adds the following: “This price change does not apply to current subscribers (except in Türkiye and India) unless the existing subscription changes or expires.” The statement leaves some unknowns open. The expression “prices will start at” presumably points to the plan essentialthe entry level of the service. In Spain, this modality currently costs 8.99 euros per month and 24.99 euros if contracted for three months. If the increase is finally applied to the Spanish market, the change would mean paying 1 euro more in the monthly plan and 3 euros more in the quarterly plan. What we still don’t know is what will happen with the other levels of the service. PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium are the most expensive modalities and include additional benefits, such as Ubisoft+ Classics, a broader catalog of games, classics and title trials, depending on the contracted plan. For now, Sony has not given details about possible changes to these subscriptions. We’ve contacted Sony for more information about the extent of the upload and will update this article if we hear back. Images | sony In Xataka | Pluto is in Sagittarius and that can only mean one thing: the third trailer for ‘GTA VI’ will be out on May 14

Lorca wants to improve his appearance. So he will fine those who hang clothes on their balconies with up to 1,500 euros.

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It doesn’t matter where you live, whether it’s a big city or a town with a few thousand inhabitants, chances are that if you take a walk through the streets of the center and look at the facades, you’ll come across a neighbor who uses their balcony to dry their laundry. Perhaps with a clothesline or perhaps by hanging clothes directly over railings or window frames. In Lorca (Region of Murcia, 99,000 neighbors) that is about to change. There the City Council has decided that practices like this tarnish the image of the town, so they want to punish them with fines of up to 1,500 euros. They are not the first in declaring war on such customs, although their fines are especially large. What has happened? That in Lorca they want to put an end to a relatively common image in the cities and towns of Spain: balconies and facades with clothes hanging. A few days ago, its City Council agreed (with the votes of the PP and Vox) to modify the ordinance which since 2010 has been combating “antisocial actions” in the town. The idea is to add a new section to “protect the image of buildings, facades and spaces visible” from the street. And that involves, among other things, ending the indiscriminate use of clotheslines. What exactly have you decided? The idea, clarify from the City Council, is to prohibit “all kinds of acts or behaviors that negatively affect” the image of buildings and the urban environment, “causing their degradation.” It sounds somewhat vague, but the truth is that its promoters distinguish between two types of very specific infractions: minor ones, which will be punished with fines of between 151 and 750 euros, and serious ones, whose penalty can go up to 1,500. Do we know anything else? Yes. Although the update of the ordinance has not yet been published in the Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia (BORM), the City Council has launched a statement in which it details what behaviors it will sanction from now on. If we talk about “minor infractions”, which can lead to fines of up to 750 euros, mention three: a) Hang all kinds of clothes on the balcony railings and on the lower lintels of the windows. b) Accumulate belongings on the balconies such as mattresses, bed bases, butane cylinders, as well as any other element unrelated to the proper use of this space in the home. c) Do not remove signage, awnings, plaques and banners from businesses once their activity has ceased. And serious infractions? Those are the ones that will cost the most to the residents of Lorca, who may face fines of between 751 and 1,500 euros. While waiting for the new restrictions to be officially reflected in the 2010 ordinance, the City Council has advanced in your statement What practices will be considered “serious violations” from now on: a) The installation of clotheslines on the main façade of buildings unless they are located in spaces provided for this purpose or protected by screens or lattices that are aesthetically integrated into the environment. b) Failure to remove air conditioning units or smoke vents on the facades of buildings that are in poor condition. Is it that important? If we ask the Lorca City Council, the answer is yes. Its mayor, Fulgencio Gil, claims that “the objective is to raise awareness, order and improve coexistence”, and insists: “The state of facades, balconies and elements visible from the public street is part of the general perception of Lorca, so this ordinance supports exemplary behavior.” And although the City Council argues that the change will adapt the 2010 ordinance to the “new needs”, it also assures that it has been promoted largely because the local residents themselves demanded it. “It responds to a growing demand from neighbors, social groups and citizen associations, who have been demanding more specific regulation in the face of situations that deteriorate the urban image and generate a feeling of abandonment in different neighborhoods and areas of the urban area,” remark. Is it a unique case? Not quite. Lorca is not the first city council in Spain to clarify what can be done (and what cannot) on the balconies of buildings. Vigo Lighthouse remember For example, in the Galician city, local regulations also restrict hanging clothes on balconies in such a way that they are visible from the street, in addition to shaking clothes, emptying washing buckets on the sidewalks or hanging decorations on balconies that may pose a danger to pedestrians. In other parts of Spain, like Andalusiathere are also localities that regulate the hanging of clothes on terraces. The same thing happens in big cities, like Barcelonawhere in 2025 a rumor circulated that a new measure was going to be adopted to tighten control, when in reality the issue has been regulated since the 90s. In Madrid, the issue is addressed in the Urban Planning Standardswhich clarify that clotheslines must have “a protection system that makes it difficult to see the clothes from public roads” and “they cannot be integrated into balconies.” Image | Fernando (Flickr) In Xataka | If there are elderly people in your building, an elevator can be installed without the board’s approval. The key: the Horizontal Property Law

a poacher, two 200 kilo specimens and a stratospheric fine from the Civil Guard

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On April 20, the Civil Guard detained a professional fisherman in the port of Águilas (Murcia) with two freshly caught bluefin tuna. Each piece weighed a few pounds and the guy had no specific authorization, he had not communicated either his departure or his entry into the port and, of course, there was no trace of traceability documentation. With Law 3/2001, of March 26, on State Maritime Fisheries in the hand, the fisherman is exposed to a fine of up to 600,000 euros for what would be the most expensive kilo of tuna in the world. The story, however, is more interesting. That great success called ‘bluefin tuna’. Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the great fishery management successes of the 21st century. It has gone from being on the brink of collapse in 2007 to be declared by the IUCN as a species of “least concern” in 2021. I don’t want to exaggerate, but it is something amazing. And the sanctioning regime has had a lot to do with it. Because we don’t even need to remember it, but tuna fishing (even today) is full of irregularities. Understandably, on the other hand. Because, whether we like it or not, the success of tuna recovery has made poaching easier and more profitable than before. Let us keep in mind that, at the beginning of the year, Japan Tuna was auctioned at 11,500 euros per kilo. Obviously, it is an exceptional case, but it gives an idea of ​​the perverse incentives generated by the black market. The striking thing is that what SEPRONA has “hunted” in Águilas cquadruples the legal annual fee that the ships of the Region of Murcia have assigned. Can we do better? We’re not doing it wrong, really:The figures speak for themselves. But the situation is very complex. It makes no sense that recreational bluefin tuna fishing in Spain has become a race to go fishing first. In the last five years, the longest effective fishing season was seven days in 2021. That is, it took fishermen a week to accidentally kill so many tuna that the fishing ended. In 2022 and 2023 there were five days and In the following years, three. Above all, because we know that with tougher regulations this doesn’t happen. We are working on it. Not everything we need, but it’s something. This January it came into force a regulation that tries to digitize the capture record and close the “statistical black hole”. The experts are worse They are not very optimistic either.. They fear that the pressure will grow year after year and that we will not go fast enough. Come on, either we step on the accelerator or things are going to get more and more complicated. And, in the end, the solution will only come when the current system bursts at the seams. It wouldn’t be something exceptional: we are specialists in it. As I said, the good news and the bad news are the same: that this will happen soon. Image | Peter Lam CH In Xataka | Spain is going to continue fishing for eels until we have no more eels to catch

Gemini is fine. But the local AI that Google has just launched for mobile phones is amazing

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At the end of last week, Google launched Gemma 4. Gemma is a family of generative AI models with a small footprint: models with effective parameters between 2B and 4B created primarily for deployment on mobile devices. Despite their size, they are dense models, and during the weekend the topic of conversation has been mainly this. How to install Gemma 4. You can install Gemma 4 so that it works offline on your phone, regardless of whether you have an internet connection or not. The installation process requires an additional app signed by Google: Google Edge Gallery. This open source app allows you to interact with AI models downloaded to your phone, without the need for an internet connection. And, since the launch of Gemma 4the model can run on mobile phones. Gemma 4 models are available in 4 parameter sizes: E2B, E4B, 31B and 26B A4B. The greater the number of parameters, the greater the capacity, but the more energy and memory is consumed. What does Gemma 4 do. Gemma 4, to date, is one of the best local smartphone models. According to Google, it surpasses the latest versions of DeepSeek, qwen and Kimi. We can use it as a chatbot (taking into account its limitations as it is not connected to the internet), ask it questions about any image we have in the gallery, as well as transcribe and translate audio. Because yes, now Google’s local models are compatible with audio and even real-time vision (if we give it camera permissions). In addition to these uses, it has its own skills: these allow us to use specialized functions to create interactive maps, perform local searches within tools such as Wikipedia, perform calculations, etc. For the average user, these models represent a gigantic pocket encyclopedia that does not require any type of connection. What advantages does it have?. The first advantage of using local models like Gemma 4 is the processing speed. There is no lag, the response is immediate, and it is surprising when we come from connected tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. The second is security: the model does not have an internet connection and the data does not leave your device. You can use them in airplane mode or in any area without coverage. Currently these models are not a replacement for large connected AIs, they are a perfect complement for situations in which we do not have a connection, and we want to continue having a model for very specific tasks. Why is it important. That Google is redoubling its efforts in local AI responds to several current and future demands. Running AI on servers is worth a fortune and is generating crisis like that of RAM. Winning in local alternatives is increasingly important. The war for open models is one in which it does not want to be left behind: Llama, Mistral, DeepSeek. Companies, governments and a small portion of users do not want (or cannot) send their data to external servers. Local models solve the problem. Google is doing its homework well with Gemini, but without connection the mobile phone is left without AI. Google’s commitment to Gemma and its implementation through its own app leaves certain clues about possible offline Gemini functions in the future. In Xataka | Having an AI on my phone that works without an Internet connection is more useful than I thought: this way you can start it

Waymo robotaxis stop if someone gets in front of them. That’s fine until the passenger suffers the consequences.

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That an autonomous car stops if it detects a person nearby is not just a function, it is the most basic thing to make it safe. The problem is when the person nearby is not simply crossing a pedestrian crossing, but is trying to attack passengers. This is what happened in San Francisco in January. The incident. They tell it in the New York Times. Last January, three passengers were returning home in a Waymo robotaxi when a man suddenly stepped in front of the vehicle and began banging on the windows while berating them for “giving money to a robot.” If it had been a normal car, they could have reversed and avoided the man, but what happened was that the car was blocked with them inside while the attacker continued to threaten them. The incident lasted at least six minutes. Waymo, help us. During the incident, the passengers called the police and then the Waymo helpline to see if they could manually steer the car to get them out of there. However, the company told them that this was not possible because there was a person nearby and the software did not allow it, but that they would be fine because the doors were closed. Speaking to the New York Times, one of the passengers states that “If I had kept hitting a single window instead of alternating, I’m sure I would have broken it in the end.” Why is it important. The Waymo robotaxis have been integrated into the life of cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, but although their use has been normalized, they are also the subject of strong opposition from a sector of the population. Since the appearance of the first robotaxis there have been protests against this technology and have also suffered damage in demonstrations for other reasons. Last summer, during the anti-ICE protests, Protesters burned several Waymo in Los Angeles claiming they were spy cars (Waymo has shared images from its car cameras with police in the past). It is not the first incident. There have been other similar situations of Waymo vehicles vandalized while there were passengers inside, or cases like that of this woman who was trapped while two men outside asked him for his phone. And there have been more controversies, such as the run over of a well-known San Francisco cat or the day there was a blackout and dozens of robotaxis were left strandedblocking the streets. Security. On your websiteWaymo boasts that its cars have 90% fewer accidents with serious injuries and 92% fewer accidents with pedestrians. Obviously the most important thing is to ensure safe driving, but incidents like these show that there are more angles from which to understand safety than just avoiding accidents. Image | Waymo In Xataka | With Waymo’s autonomous cars we are reaching a legal absurdity: driverless violations

Data Protection has imposed a fine

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In recent years, many large clubs have tried to modernize their relationship with members through digital tools. FC Barcelona took a further step by promoting a system that allowed it to verify the identity of its members using biometric data, such as voice or facial image, within its census update process. The initiative sought to strengthen identification and reduce possible impersonations. However, this project has ended up generating a regulatory conflict that has resulted in a fine of 500,000 euros imposed by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). The file. The AEPD does not generically question the use of biometric tools, but rather a prerequisite that the regulator considers essential. According to El ConfidencialFC Barcelona did not carry out an impact assessment on data protection in accordance with what is established article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This type of analysis must be carried out before implementing treatments that may pose a high risk to the rights and freedoms of the affected people. Partner Digital Profile. In this process, the system processed certain biometric traits with the objective of authenticating each person within the club’s digital ecosystem. The documentation analyzed by the AEPD indicates that the mechanism allowed “biometric vectors to be generated from the member’s image and their voice for authentication.” These vectors were used as a reference to validate the identity of the member in different procedures linked to the club. Campaign organized in several phases. The verification phase began on March 21, 2023 using digital identification tools. In this way, partners could complete the update process both remotely and in person. The system also included an alternative route for those who did not want to use biometrics, who could continue to identify themselves through traditional mechanisms. The scale factor. One of the elements that the regulator took into account was the number of people affected by the system. The FC Barcelona census has around 143,000 members, which places the project in a particularly sensitive dimension from the point of view of data protection. This volume, in the opinion of the AEPD, raised the level of potential risk for the rights and freedoms of those affected. Prior evaluation process. The GDPR requires a data protection impact assessment to be carried out when processing may pose a high risk to people’s rights and freedoms. During the investigation, the aforementioned media reports, FC Barcelona presented reports on the biometric systems used in the project. The AEPD concluded that these documents could not be considered a complete impact assessment in the terms required by article 35 of the Regulation. Avoiding a violation. Article 9 of the GDPR regulates, among other aspects, the processing of biometric data when it is used to uniquely identify a person, within the so-called special categories of data. According to the resolution, the AEPD finally decided to archive this possible infringement as the necessary elements to apply that provision were not proven. The answer. FC Barcelona has decided to appeal the sanction imposed by the AEPD and defends its actions in the process of updating the census. Barça’s legal services also highlight that the sanction initially proposed was much greater than the one finally set by the regulator. In the club’s words, a penalty of almost 6 million euros was proposed, but they managed to reduce it to 500,000 euros. Images | Fikri Rasyid In Xataka | OpenAI promised them very happy as the army’s new AI. Until thousands of users started uninstalling ChatGPT

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