Email inboxes across Europe have been flooded with pleas and warnings from businesses to subscribers.
If recipients could weigh the messages and receive payment by weight in gold, the deluge would be an extremely profitable one.
The cause was Friday's deadline for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to come into effect.
Depending on which side of the fence the commentator fell, the new law was an overdue victory for individual rights in the data era or needless state-sponsored meddling in private business affairs.
The big picture is that Europe is desperate to prove itself a major player in the digital world. By defining its regulatory framework around the individual, the bloc puts its global reach on display.
The scope of its measures falls badly short of the promised revolution. In fact, the whole exercise might prove to be self-harming for the Europeans.
Any business or entity running a mailing list was, by Friday, required to establish permission for each address it held. The means of doing so ranged from emailing a new request to rejoin to merely informing the recipient that permission had been given at an earlier date.
Some businesses have made a virtue out of the necessity by offering vouchers or sales discounts to those reconfirming.
Others have tersely emailed a statement to their entire mailing list. Thus old hotel bookings and shopping habits have re-emerged in private accounts, sometimes years after any customer contact.
While the impact of the new law provided a watercooler talking point, the effect on Silicon Valley is still up in the air.
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Read more on GDPR:
New EU data protection law a milestone in privacy regulation
Europe's new GDPR data protection ruling will affect companies in the UAE
Facebook says there could be more data leaks
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Mark Zuckerberg and other tech magnates toured the continent last week under pressure to respond to critics of their business practices.
The Facebook leader went to Brussels, where he faced a panel of leading European politicians. In a tactical error, the politicians asked all their questions in one go, allowing Mr Zuckerberg to pick and choose which ones he answered.
The session was, in short, an exercise in relationship management by Facebook top brass.
A day later, Mr Zuckerberg was in the company of French President Emmanuel Macron at a high-profile tech summit in Paris.
The French leader spoke a lot of tough words. There was no such thing as a free lunch for social media giants.
He demanded "commitments” on tackling the scourge of fake news, firm action on removing terrorist content and safeguards against state-sponsored meddling on their platforms.
Going further, Mr Macron wanted big operators to work for the global good, championing social protections and privacy priorities.
For decades, America has been at the forefront of digital innovation, as evidenced by the growth of the massive so-called Faang (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet’s Google) businesses.
Conversely Europe made itself a player on the anti-trust agenda, regularly doling out fines for anti-competitive practice to Microsoft and others or making the likes of Apple pay out tens of billions in taxes.
The GDPR initiative is Europe’s gambit to make itself the rule-giver of first resort on the big issue of today. As individuals, we are the generators of data.
The very concept relies on human actions, choices and aspirations. Processing and exploiting data presents the greatest economic opportunity the world has ever witnessed.
Europe is out of the regulatory starting blocks while America refuses to act. The US remains in thrall to Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile China has set its sights on the very communist concept that the state can own and exploit the digital future without any restrictions.
Three very different positions. There will be a gold, silver and bronze set of outcomes.
The European approach plays a weak hand well but it is unlikely to unlock the advantage over global rivals that the continent seeks.
Facebook, for example, has removed its global users from an Irish company to one outside the bloc. This effectively quarantines the European subscriber base.
Europe threatens big fines for abusing customer data. The penalty is up to $23.3 million or 4 per cent of global turnover, which ever is greatest.
Smaller businesses can take a different approach. Apps that want to avoid the burden of compliance can – and examples have already been identified – refuse to enroll users domiciled in Europe.
The result is that Europeans will lose opportunities in commerce.
Europe is hoping access to its market is enough leverage to enforce compliance with its rules. This prescriptive approach is more likely to be limiting to its own people.
What the continent really needs is to create business that thrives on the European ethos.
There are those that saw Friday as GDPR Day, a moment that will be remembered forever as a sort of positive Y2K.
But for all the hype last week, GDPR is likely to go the way of all clumsy acronyms – consigned to history's dustbin.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 0 Wolves 2 (Jimenez 3', Saiss 6)
Man of the Match Romain Saiss (Wolves)
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
25%20Days%20to%20Aden
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Michael%20Knights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20256%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAvailable%3A%20January%2026%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
