GDPR arrives with a bang
We're still seeing the repercussions of GDPR and how it'll roll out properly over time, but over the last three days it's been interesting to see how it has been adopted (or not) by different company categories.
GDPR's impact is clearly largest on publishers, who are known for slathering their sites with trackers with little regard and now need to answer for them. Since Friday, I've seen everything from outright blockades at Tronc publishers to The Washington Post's take, which asks the reader to pay for a special 'Premium EU subscription' to avoid tracking.
Digiday reports that publishers may be feeling the burn already, with a drop in programmatic advertising fulfillment by 25 to 40 percent since the roll-out of the law.
For consumers, this isn't a bad thing; more control over who's tracking is a great change and should guide product roadmap long-term to build without these trackers. USA Today's new EU-focused site is a great example of privacy-focused rebuilds of existing properties; it's ultra lightweight, fast and tracking is minimal.
Like Can Duruk said on Twitter, "GDPR is basically AMP but actually good."
US moves to crack down on startup visa
After more than a year of gesticulating about it, the US Department of Homeland Security is moving to take away the international entrepreneur visa, an Obama-era visa created to encourage startups to bring founders to the country.
The change was delayed in 2017, after it was faced with legal challenges, but looks set to go into effect this year with DHS now opening a 30-day public comment window.
Removing the visa, in my opinion, is a huge net loss for the country as Europe and others compete to woos would-be startup founders to their own countries with tax discounts and other incentives. I hope for the sake of those on the visa currently that the lawsuits in motion prevail, but it looks likely to change the startup landscape long-term.
Tab Dump
Intel investigated for ageism
Following layoffs two years ago, Intel is being investigated by authorities for ageism, specifically over whether it targeted older employees in those layoffs to avoid paying out benefits.
Apple reportedly working on ARM-based laptop running iOS
The trajectory on this matches with rumors that Apple plans a 2020 switch to ARM architecture. It will, however, fly in the face of the company's repeated claims that touchscreens on laptops just don't work.
