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<ul><li>The 25-year campaign from <keyword id="11646758" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bsa-ladybird">BSA Ladybird</keyword> is a celebration of the fun and freedom girls have enjoyed alongside their cycles.</li><li>The campaign is conceputalised by <keyword id="1712681" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ogilvy-Bangalore">Ogilvy Bangalore</keyword>. </li><li>Almost 90% of the crew working on this film, starting from the director, writer, producer, music director to the casting as well as production team, comprised of women. </li></ul>BSA Ladybird has been the leading name in cycles for 25 years now, setting a benchmark in the category ever since its launch. The brand has shaped the childhoods of generations of women, helping them be independent, free spirited and fun loving. As the brand reaches a major milestone in its journey, BSA believes that the girls behind this successful ride deserve an ode. Their adventurous and joyous spirits are what evolved the brand over the years and helped it stay the favourite it has always been. The 25-year campaign from BSA Ladybird is a celebration of the fun and freedom girls have enjoyed alongside their cycles. It encapsulates what it means to be a Ladybird girl, be it drenching in the first rains, taking on a risky slope, meeting your crush for a date, discovering new hangouts, or finding the way to your passion. <div type="Youtube" id="kcfCxmKFD8E" title="#FunTurns25 - Ride With BSA Ladybird" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kcfCxmKFD8E/mqdefault.jpg"></div> <keyword id="2514038" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="KK-Paul">KK Paul</keyword>, President, <keyword id="3397877" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ti-cycles-of-india">TI Cycles of India</keyword>: “Fun, freedom, energy, style and comfort are some of the values that define the BSA Ladybird. Over the last 25 years, BSA Ladybird has not just partnered a girl's self-determined quest for independence, but also been an extension of her personality and style statement. Over the last decade alone, 3.5 million young girls and women have experienced the joy of riding a BSA Ladybird Cycle. To celebrate this feeling, we are releasing a film, in which we have attempted to capture how early experiences and childhood, evolve us. In order for women to pursue their dreams, it is imperative for us to acknowledge the importance of freedom for the girls, at the right time, to emerge stronger than ever. Today, we thank them for trusting and including us in their journey of growth.” Mahesh Gharat, Chief Creative Officer, <keyword id="531122" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ogilvy-India">Ogilvy India</keyword> – South: “BSA Ladybird has always been the choice of spirited, independent girls. When we look at the brand’s role in their lives, it has been more of a friend and confidante. Someone who has a strong hand in shaping the way they spent their developing years. The brand, in turn, has grown with these girls, imbibing their fearless spirit. This journey of fun and freedom is what we have tried to capture through the film and the campaign.” To ensure that the film has a very robust women-centric narrative, almost 90% of the crew working on this film, starting from the director, writer, producer, music director to the casting as well as production team, comprised of women – not to mention the young girls who formed the cast. The agency and the brand teams believe that this has helped shape the film better, with genuine moments of fun and freedom borrowed from the childhood stories of key team members.

BSA Ladybird celebrates its 25 years with a new campaign

<ul><li>BSA, the software alliance, has launched a new international coalition to battle data localisation norms in India. </li><li>The alliance argues that it will hamper economic growth and bring in operational inefficiencies. </li><li>More than data, the Indian government’s concern is that when data is on global servers, they are left with little recourse in the event of a data breach. </li></ul>India’s new data laws are asking companies to localise their data. Not just sensitive data — like names, numbers and addresses — but also non-sensitive data. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-microsoft-aws-adobe-akamai-and-ibm-want-discussion-on-personal-data-protection-bill-before-parliament/articleshow/69768390.cms">BSA, the Software Alliance,</a> which includes tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Intel, and Adobe among others, has launched an international coalition to advocate for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/data-localisation-wont-help-local-firms-or-improve-privacy-but-it-could-cost-india-43-billion/articleshow/72251167.cms">ability to move data across borders.</a> "The seamless, trusted movement of information across borders drives the global economy forward. It supports innovation and job creation," said Victoria Espinel, president and CEO of BSA. The Global Data Alliance (GDA) — which also includes non-BSA members like Panasonic, Visa, and Mastercard — advocates that movement of information around the world is essential for businesses to build themselves. They argue that data mobility will help the economy From designing and creating new products and services to reaching new customers, GDA believes that non-sensitive data should be allowed to stay mobile. Restricting its movement will have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-personal-data-protection-bill-global-ceo-concerns/articleshow/68389336.cms">far-reaching effects for every sector.</a> In farming, for example, most crop loss occurs due to the unpredictability of the weather. Predictive weather models and other precision agricultural techniques can help reduce risk by collecting data from thousands of sensors across countries and regions. For manufacturing too, IoT sensors with predictive analytics software can help reduce unplanned maintenance and factory downtime. However, in order to be efficient, it needs to perform real-time analysis using indicators from factories in different regions around the globe. The health sector bears one of the more significant impacts. Using data from different countries, doctors can use patterns to identify how a disease may be moving or infecting people. Cross-referencing queries and insights can also better doctors deliver better diagnoses and cost-effective medical aid. Why the government thinks data should stay in India While it’s understandable that global companies feel that mobility is key to optimise their business flow, what they don’t point out is how it’s also a cost-saving mechanism. Every country has its own comparative advantage that companies leverage. The other concern is the amount of data that’s currently changing hands. More people are using the internet with first-time users expected to join the bandwagon as network penetration increases. Advocates of data localisation have called data akin to ‘oil’ that is currently being given away for free. Data is the cornerstone of a lot of processes like predictive, machine learning (ML), and <keyword id="107950" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence</keyword> (AI) among others. While restricting the flow of data across orders sounds like it may hamper Big Data, the bigger issue is that without servers in India, the Indian government is left with little recourse when it comes to addressing data breaches and privacy violations that happen on global servers. The restriction then trickles down to the consumer. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-personal-data-protection-bill-global-ceo-concerns/articleshow/68389336.cms">Here’s what global tech CEOs have to say about India's data protection laws</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/data-localisation-wont-help-local-firms-or-improve-privacy-but-it-could-cost-india-43-billion/articleshow/72251167.cms">Data localisation won't help 'local' firms or improve privacy — but it could cost India $43 billion</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/data-protection-for-indian-businesses-inadequate/articleshow/68613117.cms">Indian companies know how to sell data but not how to protect it</a>

Microsoft, AWS and Adobe align to lobby against data localisation in India — but the issue goes beyond privacy

<ul><li>Global tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Abode feel that there should be another round of discussions before India’s <keyword id="2617070" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Personal-Data-Protection-Bill">Personal Data Protection Bill</keyword> is brought to Parliament. </li><li>Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s IT minister, on the other hand, wants the Personal Data Protection to be tabled in Parliament as soon as possible.</li><li>Global tech companies with the BSA, the software alliance, say another round of consultations will help account for the bill’s many changes and learn from the GDPR as it completes its first year.</li></ul> The Indian government is pushing for a Personal Data Protection Bill in the parliament as soon as possible but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-personal-data-protection-bill-global-ceo-concerns/articleshow/68389336.cms">global tech giants</a> want another round of consultation before the bill’s implementation. “Given how the privacy discourse and policy discourse has happened in the last year and also technology has rapidly change. We urge the government to undertake further consultation before they introduce it into the parliament,” Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, the Country Manager for <keyword id="1681687" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSA-India">BSA India</keyword> told Business Insider India. BSA, the software alliance that includes companies like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Intel, Adobe, Akamai, Oracle, IBM and Apple, feel that since the policy that will now be tabled is considerably different from what was originally presented for discussion — another round of inputs would help the companies as well as the Indian government. Rushing to parliament Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s IT and telecom minister, told the press that taking the Personal Data Protection Bill to parliament will be one of his top priorities during the first 100 days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term. “In IT, we will try to quickly get the data protection bill to the Parliament and also, notifying the intermediary guidelines,” he said. Before India started out on its journey to address data privacy concerns, the debate had already been ongoing in the US for nearly 20 years and in the EU for over 10 years. The original draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill that was shared in 2018 draws its inspiration from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as other legislations around the world. And, given that GDPR has just completed its first year of implementation, Krishnamoorthy feels that there’s a lot that India can learn from the EU’s experience, “It would be beneficial for the government given that GDPR has gone through its anniversary and there were learnings from that. And generally, also there’s been a lot of activity as well, like the G20 Summit in Japan. ” It’s not just that India needs to look at the experience of other countries. The new draft that will be tabled at parliament is considerably different from what was originally presented. “The next version be more robust than what it is currently,” Krishnamoorthy explains. He adds, “It’s a step in the right direction because the time of privacy legislation has come. It’s been a pretty thorough effort trying to come with a comprehensive data protection legislation on the government’s part.” There were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/groups-of-foreign-companies-are-lobbying-against-indias-personal-data-protection-bill/articleshow/66070718.cms">many concerns</a> in the first bill with respect to the definitions of data and the mandate of data localisation. BSA is hoping that the final version will have rules that are horizontally applicable. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-personal-data-protection-bill-global-ceo-concerns/articleshow/68389336.cms">Here’s what global tech CEOs have to say about India's data protection laws</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/groups-of-foreign-companies-are-lobbying-against-indias-personal-data-protection-bill/articleshow/66070718.cms">Groups of foreign companies are lobbying against India's Personal Data Protection Bill</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/data-protection-for-indian-businesses-inadequate/articleshow/68613117.cms">Indian companies know how to sell data but not how to protect it</a>

Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft want one more shot at convincing India before data protection bill reaches Parliament

Today’s top tech news: WhatsApp won’t tolerate bulk messaging, global tech companies want another shot at the India’s Data Protection Bill and AWS is training engineering students to code

<ul><li>WhatsApp plans to sue individuals and companies that use the messaging platform to send out bulk messages.</li><li>Amazon, Microsoft and other members of the BSA -- the software alliance -- want another round of discussions before India's Personal Security Bill goes to parliament. </li><li>AWS is training students at IIT Kharagpur to write 'smart code'.</li></ul> This Tech Insider’s daily dose of <keyword id="35609" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="tech-news">tech news</keyword> — everything that’s happening in tech that you need to know about today from Business Insider and its partner publications:

Today’s top tech news: WhatsApp won’t tolerate bulk messaging, global tech companies want another shot at the India’s Data Protection Bill and Amazon’s training engineering students to code

<ul><li>India’s draft of the <keyword id="2617070" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Personal-Data-Protection-Bill">Personal Data Protection Bill</keyword> 2019 allows the government to have unfettered access to citizen data in the name of ‘national security’. </li><li>Russia’s successful test of its own internet enforces a similar ‘sovereign internet’ law allowing for content to be blocked in an ‘emergency situation’. </li><li>India is already following in China’s footsteps with data localisation. </li></ul>Many Asian countries are moving to limit the many unlimited freedoms that Internet offers. The latest to join the list is Russia which just completed the first successful test of its own internet. And China already has the Great Firewall. India, on the other hand, is best known for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/caa-internet-shutdowns-make-india-example-for-china/articleshow/72931761.cms">shutting down the internet all together</a> in any situation it deems to be a ‘public emergency’. <div type="image" title="internet_edited" msid="72990281" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Citizens of Kashmir protest the internet shutdown in the region&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

 India, which already has the dubious distinction of being called the ‘<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-accounted-for-most-number-of-intentional-internet-shutdowns-in-south-asia-2017-18-unesco/articleshow/64189016.cms">internet shutdown capital of the world</a>’, is looking to introduce stringent laws. A new draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill speaks of more restrictions and surveillance. While the government claims that the goal of the bill is to emulate Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-what-india-needs-to-know-about-gdpr/articleshow/64320255.cms">GDPR</a>), one key different puts it more along the footsteps of China and Russia’s data laws — the fact that the government can have unfettered access to citizen data for ‘national security’. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="68389336" title="Here’s what global tech CEOs have to say about India's data protection laws" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

 The first steps towards mass surveillance A day before Christmas, the Russian’s Ministry of Communications announced that the country has successfully unplugged the internet according to a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50902496">BBC</a> report. It marks the implementation of Russia’s ‘sovereign internet’ law, which allows the government to block content in an ‘emergency situation’. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/31/russia-new-law-expands-government-control-online#">Experts</a>’ main critique of the law is that it’s the first step towards dismantling the internet. The definition of an ‘emergency situation’ is vague but the government insists that the main purpose is to prevent cyberattacks. <a href="https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-protection/new-india-data-protection-bill-may-give-government-unlimited-access-to-citizen-data/">Critics</a> in India find similar faults with the Personal Data Protection Bill. Though the government won’t have the power to remove online content, it will be able to track and monitor accounts that it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/iamai-flags-ambiguities-in-draft-data-protection-bill-seeks-clarity-on-classification-consent/articleshow/72282044.cms">deems to be a ‘threat’</a> — essentially creating a backdoor that can be opened at any time without having to lift a finger. Another way to think about it that the new data privacy laws will apply to everyone, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/centres-exemption-powers-in-draft-data-protection-bill-stir-up-industry-worries/articleshow/72461296.cms">except for the government</a>. The trend of data protection through localisation India is already following in China’s footsteps with its data localisation laws, according to a report by the Eurasia Group and Vontobel. They say it’s partly a way to protect domestic technology companies from foreign competition. And while that may be true, multiple studies show that India companies don’t have the adequate cybersecurity infrastructure in place to protect against data theft. Forcepoint finds that 69% of Indian organisations are at risk of being breached and nearly half of them have encountered a data breach in the past. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="69768390" title="Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft want one more shot at convincing India before data protection bill reaches Parliament" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

 The level of a vulnerability is worryingly high when one takes into considering that the country has already made data localisation mandatory for financial transactions of its citizens. As experts point out, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/data-localisation-wont-help-local-firms-or-improve-privacy-but-it-could-cost-india-43-billion/articleshow/72251167.cms">data localisation may keep the data from foreign firms</a> — but it also creates a single point of attack. It won’t be cheap either. According to a report by ICRIER and IAMAI, the restrictions would hamper cross-border data flows costing India up to $43 billion in trade. The lingering question The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 is still under discussion leaving the possibility open for the proposed laws to be changed before they’re official. "Effective data privacy and personal information protection are critical pillars for driving consumer trust in the rapidly growing digital economy," said the country manager for BSA India, Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy. And he rightly points out, maintaining trust is critical as cybersecurity threats are only set to increase in 2020 as technology continues to evolve and legislation struggles to keep up. The combination of data localisation and tracking of users online activity makes a for a dangerous mixture that could have India becoming the next country to splinter the internet along with China, Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/news/indias-new-data-protection-is-in-the-works-and-companies-will-only-have-to-pay-2-million-for-violations/articleshow/72381112.cms">India's new data protection law is in the works and companies will only have to pay $2 million for violations</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/groups-of-foreign-companies-are-lobbying-against-indias-personal-data-protection-bill/articleshow/66070718.cms">Groups of foreign companies are lobbying against India's Personal Data Protection Bill</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/data-localisation-wont-help-local-firms-or-improve-privacy-but-it-could-cost-india-43-billion/articleshow/72251167.cms">Data localisation won't help 'local' firms or improve privacy — but it could cost India $43 billion</a>

Indian data laws have an uncanny resemblance to Russia’s 'new' internet and China’s 'Great Firewall'

As the automotive world steadily shifts away from internal combustion and toward an electric future, one of the big questions about how exactly this will work comes down to power. Specifically, when will batteries be powerful and cheap enough to allow electric cars to go as far and cost as little as what's on the market today? Jagdeep Singh says that time is now. In an interview with Insider, the CEO of <keyword id="9411489" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="QuantumScape">QuantumScape</keyword> - which is backed by Bill Gates and <keyword id="6361865" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="volkswagen">Volkswagen</keyword> - explained how his team developed a solid-state battery that will deliver better performance, durability, and energy density than the lithium-ion cells used today. But battery experts tell us there's a big difference between invention and industrialization, and for Singh to really deliver, QuantumScape must master the art of manufacturing. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quantumscape-bill-gates-volkswagen-solid-state-batteries-2020-12">Read the full story right here</a>, get more of the week's <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">transportation</keyword> news below, and if you haven't yet, <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/shiftinggears">sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every week</a>.<h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-737-max-training-return-airline-faa-requirement-2020-12">The 737 Max loses a key selling point - and Boeing could take another hit </a></h2>When <keyword id="6357957" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="boeing">Boeing</keyword> introduced the 737 Max, it wooed airline customers with a tantalizing promise: Pilots already certified to fly older 737 jets wouldn't need time in an expensive simulator to transfer over to the new bird. Now, after two deadly crashes and a 20-month grounding, regulators have deemed the plane safe - provided that pilots get extra training before taking off. The result could cost Boeing billions of dollars. <h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zoox-amazon-jeff-bezos-jesse-levinson-2020-12">When Zoox met Amazon</a></h2>Like another famous couple, self-driving startup Zoox and retail giant Amazon spent years having occasional chats before they settled down together. A few months after the announcement of their deal, reported to be worth $1.2 billion, Zoox co-founder and CTO told us how it all went down - and what he demanded of Jeff Bezos before agreeing to a deal. <h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-satellite-internet-rdof-fcc-subsidy-locations-blocks-maps-2020-12">Block-by-block maps reveal where SpaceX must offer Starlink satellite internet</a></h2>So far, the only people using <keyword id="6360701" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex">SpaceX</keyword>'s satellite internet service are a few thousand beta testers scattered around the northern US and Canada. Thanks to American government largesse, that's set to change. SpaceX has been awarded rights to $885 million in subsidies from the FCC, which it must use to offer <keyword id="7612156" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="starlink">Starlink</keyword> to 642,000 homes and businesses - at competitive prices. Those spots are scattered around the country, largely in rural areas where broadband access is limited, but detailed maps show exactly where Starlink's likely to land in the next few years.<h2>Everything else: </h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/transportation-secretary-foreign-policy-job-mayor-pete-buttigieg-always-wanted-2020-12">Transportation secretary can be the foreign-policy job Mayor Pete always wanted</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mahindra-relaunching-bsa-motorcycles-as-electric-brand-2020-12">Iconic British motorcycle brand BSA is coming back under India's Mahindra</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-boring-company-texas-warehouse-austin-tesla-factory-site-2020-12">Elon Musk's Boring Company buys industrial site near Tesla's under-construction Texas factory</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fedex-shipping-limits-surprising-small-businesses-pandemic-peak-holiday-season-2020-12">FedEx is limiting the number of items small businesses can ship during the pandemic-fueled holiday</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/review-ford-bronco-sport-photos-features-verdict-2020-12">REVIEW: The Ford Bronco Sport is a capable crossover that will win over the suburbs</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/audi-r8-v10-performance-review-horsepower-price-sports-supercar-lamborghini-2020-12">REVIEW: The $208,000 Audi R8 Performance is a relic of supercars long gone, and that's what makes it special</a></li></ul>

Insider Transportation: QuantumScape's battery breakthrough, Amazon's Zoox deal, and more

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6357713" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttar-Pradesh">Uttar Pradesh</keyword> government is cracking down on school teachers who are using fake degrees to land jobs in the state’s government schools. </li><li>As of now, the special task force has identified over 4,000 fake teachers — and they are expecting more. </li><li>The UP government spends roughly ₹150 billion (₹15,000 crore) on primary education and faculty. </li><li>As many as 60 government teachers — working on the basis of their fake B.Ed degrees — have been suspended so far.</li></ul>The Uttar Pradesh government is unearthing scams that involve using fake degrees to land jobs in government schools. Several cases of fake teachers have been reported in the state. And as of now, the special task force identified over 4,000 fake teachers — and they are expecting more. According to media reports, the UP government spends roughly <a href="https://khabar.ndtv.com/video/show/prime-time/fake-teachers-scam-in-uttar-pradesh-534014">₹150 billion on primary education</a> and faculty. While investigating, the government found out cases of <keyword id="429939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Identity-theft">identity theft</keyword> as well. In one case, three ‘people’ from different districts were ‘employed’ on the basis of same Aadhar card and PAN card. The scam came to the fore when the real owner of the IDs filed an ITR and found that multiple accounts are being operated with his credentials. This comes in the backdrop of an ongoing debate on the state of education system in the state. A recent video of an <a href="https://www.news18.com/news/india/english-teacher-fails-to-read-textbook-during-surprise-check-at-up-school-video-goes-viral-2406359.html">English teacher struggling to read a textbook</a> in <keyword id="432256" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unnao-district">Unnao district</keyword> of UP had gone viral across social media platforms. During the surprise inspection, the students fumbled while reading English textbooks. In fact, the BA pass teacher could not read a single sentence, after which Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) was asked to suspend her. “She should be suspended immediately. She is an English teacher and she can’t even read English properly,” District Magistrate Devendra Kumar Pandey told News18. This is however not the only case. As many as<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/education/up-60-govt-school-teachers-suspended-for-getting-job-using-fake-qualifications-2103411"> 60 government teachers </a>— working on the basis of their fake B.Ed degrees and qualifications — have been suspended so far. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/on-national-education-day-heres-a-look-at-the-recent-reforms-in-india/articleshow/72001598.cms">On National Education Day, here’s a look at the recent reforms in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/average-education-expenditure-in-india-increases-fourfold-to-8331-per-student/articleshow/72282009.cms">Indians are spending enormously on education even with few jobs in sight</a>

Fake B.Ed degrees, identity thefts and other scams that UP is unearthing at its schools

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a> signed a pledge on August 16 with its third-party sellers that it would give a 30-day suspension notice before permanently removing them from the platform.</li><li>Many sellers and consultants thought that policy would protect them.</li><li>But a month after it went into effect, third-party sellers told Business Insider that they are still being suspended from the platform without notice.</li><li>It's one of the biggest gripes Amazon sellers have with the e-commerce giant. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Amazon's third-party merchants power <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000119312519103013/d727605dex991.htm">some 58%</a> of the e-commerce giant's sales.But those sellers aren't without their gripes - and one of the biggest complaints centers around just how easy it is to be wiped off the platform without any warning or explanation. Many accounts suspensions <a href="https://www.helium10.com/blog/suspended-amazon-seller-account/">are also the result of an algorithmic decision</a> made by Amazon's internal machine-learning software, which results in some sellers getting booted even if they have done nothing wrong."Nobody likes that your business just shuts down overnight," Amazon seller and consultant <a href="https://egrowthpartners.com">Cynthia Stine</a> told Business Insider. "They keep your money, they keep your inventory, and you're looking at a very vaguely worded notification document that doesn't really tell you what they're looking for."So, as part of <a href="https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2019/17_07_2019_Amazon.html?nn=3591568">a German antitrust settlement</a>, Amazon amended <a href="https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G1791?language=en_US">its Business Services Agreement</a>, which all third-party merchants agree to.That new version gives sellers in and out of Germany a 30-day notice before permanently removing them from the platform. Sellers whose profiles were used for illegal or fraudulent activities, whose products harmed customers, or otherwise "materially breached" the sellers' agreement could still be removed without that 30-day notice.Before the new policy went into effect, Amazon said in its seller agreement that it could "for any reason at any time by notice" remove merchants from the marketplace. That new policy went into effect <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/amazons-updated-suspension-policy-still-has-sellers-worried.html">on August 16</a> for merchants worldwide.<h2>The policy isn't what sellers or consultants thought it would be</h2>When the August 16 policy was enacted, sellers and consultants believed Amazon would give them that 30-day notice when they were suspended. That's what much of the messaging around the new policy communicated.<a href="https://www.ecommercechris.com/"></a>"This is a much-ballyhooed improvement to account suspension and transparency and we're looking under rocks for it," said <a href="https://www.ecommercechris.com/">Chris McCabe</a>, who is the founder of a consultancy called eCommerceChris that helps Amazon sellers whose accounts have been suspended.The fact that this new policy doesn't protect suspended sellers - and only ones headed for permanent removal- was "a surprise to us," McCabe said. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>The limits of the policy were also news to <a href="https://www.avenue7media.com">Jason Boyce</a>, who was a multimillion-dollar seller on Amazon and is now a consultant to Amazon businesses. "When I read the policy change that came shortly after the EU rulings, I thought, 'Thirty days - this is a good start,'" Boyce told Business Insider. "'I would prefer 60 or 90 days, but this is a step in the right direction to protect third-party sellers.'"To hear now that it had nothing to do with account suspensions, only to do with account cancellations, to me it seems that they only paid the account policy lip service," said Boyce, the founder of <a href="https://www.avenue7media.com">Avenue7Media</a>.An Amazon spokesperson said sellers are "incredibly important" to Amazon and its customers."We have tools and services to help them grow their business, as well as policies to ensure they help us delight our customers," the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Business Insider. "If sellers violate our policies and damage our customer experience, we take swift action in order to protect both customers and other sellers."<h2>Ever-changing language</h2>Part of the confusion stems from the fact that Amazon frequently changes how it refers to account suspensions or terminations.Germany's federal competition regulator told news media that the settlement would address <a href="https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2019/17_07_2019_Amazon.html?nn=3591568">"the termination and blocking of sellers' accounts."</a> But those two terms could feasibly refer to permanent or temporary account actions. Amazon alternatively calls temporary actions "suspensions" or "deactivations." A permanent account ending may be called "blocking."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-search-algorithms-altered-to-favor-own-products-report-2019-9">Amazon denies a report that it altered its search algorithms to favor its own products </a>The constantly-shifting terms are baffling to sellers. But this hazy language is not an accident, said McCabe, who worked in Amazon's seller compliance department for five years. "They generally like to keep it vague on purpose because they don't want to be, I guess, pigeonholed. They don't want to be quoted back to themselves," McCabe said. "'Well, you told me this, and that's what I've given you.' They don't want to be quoted to themselves. They keep it vague because they want to reserve the right to interpret things as they see fit."<h2>Sellers are still getting removed without 30-day notice</h2>The fact that Amazon is not required to give 30-day notice before suspending an account is still widely not known among sellers.Peter Kearns was a business development manager at Amazon for nearly four years, and now consults suspended Amazon sellers. He told Business Insider that several suspended sellers have contacted him in recent weeks, confused that they didn't receive the 30-day notice before getting booted. Read more:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fedex-amazon-ending-shipping-service-why-costs-balance-sheet-2019-6"> A key metric in FedEx's financial statements underscores why the shipping giant dropped Amazon as a customer</a>"I think that one of the challenges with the new BSA (Business Solutions Agreement), there was a lot of talk when it came out that sellers were going to get a 30-day notice," Kearns said. "That doesn't say that that's what this was going to do."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>In the UK, Yasmin Calma runs a baby accessory and clothing store called Tiny Alpaca with her partner Kieran Broyd. On September 15, the merchants discovered their account was suspended without any notification. (As of September 18, they're back on the platform.)"We haven't been given any reasoning - no email, no explanation," Calma told Business Insider. They said they had $15,000 of inventory stuck in the Amazon warehouse and couldn't ship it back without losing thousands of dollars.Calma has been monitoring <a href="https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/">the Amazon Seller Forums</a>, where scores of sellers have posted about their accounts getting suspended without notification, to learn more. "A lot of them believed they would get a 30-day notice, but they were shut down with no notification," Calma said."If they would just tell sellers, 'you have two weeks to clean up your act,' most sellers would," Stine said. "They would do whatever Amazon wanted. Amazon sellers are like abused kids. They would do anything to please Papa Amazon. But we don't get warnings - we just get taken down."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-sellers-organizing-anti-trust-doj-ftc-2019-8" data-analytics-position="14">'Amazon is not their friend': Amazon sellers are organizing against the retail giant as the FTC and DOJ continues their anti-trust probe</a>One US-based seller, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation from Amazon, was removed from the marketplace after Amazon claimed they were selling items with prescription-level substances in it.Amazon told the seller to remove that product on August 30. They removed the inventory from that product, but failed to delete the listing altogether. Less than two weeks later, on September 11, the seller saw one night that their account was suspended. "My stomach totally dropped," the seller told Business Insider.They thought they would receive a 30-day notification, but did not. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>That seller ultimately got their account reinstated in less than two days, but there was a hit to the seller's bottom line - they generate some $2,000 a day in sales. "We're running a business," the seller said. "We have lines of credit that we're paying on top of the product - just not a very good situation to find yourself in."And in India, Amazon seller Chirag Jindal told Business Insider that his account was suspended on September 6. He received two emails the prior month, which Business Insider viewed, about inaccurately constructed listings, which he corrected."I didn't get any notification before (I was suspended)," Jindal said. "And I think that's the worst thing about suspensions that Amazon does."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/letter-to-jeff-bezos-asks-why-amazon-sells-unsafe-products-2019-8">US senators wrote a letter to Jeff Bezos expressing 'grave concerns' over 'illegal' and 'deceptive' products sold on Amazon </a>Five Amazon consultants and lawyers who help sellers with suspended accounts confirmed to Business Insider that recent clients also have not received the 30-day notice Amazon promised. "I have not seen the 30-day warning yet," said Stine, who runs a 25-person business out of Dallas focused on reinstating suspended Amazon sellers. "So far as I can tell, there's been no one who has gotten that 30-day message."<h2>'Good apples' are getting caught up in the crackdown - and the economic consequences can be serious</h2>While they may be thought of as small businesses, some of these marketplace sellers are massive. Around 50,000 third-party Amazon sellers each generated more than $500,000 in sales last year.So, when they're removed from the marketplace platform, they risk losing their entire livelihood. Scott Needham, CTO of Amazon marketplace seller Logan, Utah-based BuyBoxer, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-sellers-organizing-anti-trust-doj-ftc-2019-8">previously told Business Insider</a> that, when his store was suspended for seven days, 100 employees were sent home for a full week. (This shutdown happened prior to the August 16 policy change.)"I just know that like every seller out there has feared the policy enforcement out there," Needham said."Amazon says that they're going after the bad actors. I completely support and I want them to do that, but I can name dozens of sellers that have tried to do things in good faith and they still come across this."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Plenty of "good apples" can get caught in Amazon's machine learning-based process of suspending sellers, Kearns said. Lots of suspensions result from seller accounts triggering Amazon's algorithm to catch bad actors in the marketplace, and that means sellers who haven't made a mistake can sometimes end up suspended. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ignition-transportation">Apply here to attend IGNITION: Transportation, an event focused on the future of transportation, in San Francisco on October 22</a>.An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company has employees who "monitor seller activity and take action when appropriate.""We provide sellers with clear guidance about what policy they violated, and have an appeals process where sellers can explain how they will prevent the violation from happening in the future or let us know if they believe they were compliant," the spokesperson added. "Our global team is available 24/7 to support sellers via email, phone, and chat in more than 15 languages. If a seller has a question about their account, we encourage them to contact us directly and we will investigate and take appropriate action."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Stine said many of her clients who were suspended in the past week made a mistake in creating a variation on their product page. An Amazon merchant who is selling, say, several different colors of water bottles may place a different size or type of bottle in the same listing. This is beneficial for the seller if that original water bottle has a high ranking and review, but it's not allowed under Amazon's seller agreement.And some sellers take it too far, knowingly or not, and pack hundreds of variations in one listing. Ultimately, they risk suspension from Amazon."They are banning people for very minor offenses made out of ignorance," Stine said. "That's why this has been so heartbreaking."Still, the speedy banning is in line with Amazon's ethos of "customer obsession." If a third-party seller is potentially causing a bad experience for customers, the e-commerce giant won't hesitate to eliminate them. "Amazon at its core is obsessed with creating a great customer experience," Kearns said. "If they think a seller is creating a negative customer experience, they'd rather suspend and protect that customer experience rather than allow a potential bad apple."Are you an Amazon seller? Email the reporter at <a href="mailto:rpremack@businessinsider.com">rpremack@businessinsider.com</a>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=amazon&amp;itm_campaign=40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019-3"></a>

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