The European Commission opened an investigation into online travel agent Booking.com over alleged failures to tackle fake listings and phishing scams. According to the Commission, Booking.com has underestimated the impact of fraud and unlicensed accommodation, and is not sufficiently protecting users’ data from being misused for scams.
The probe is the first under the new Digital Services Act (DSA), a controversial online content law that covers a wide array of platforms including social media and digital marketplaces.
“Europeans should be able to book their holidays without fear of being scammed,” Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said in her statement.
The Commission’s Vice-President is also looking into whether the Netherlands-based firm breached rules “because it did not clearly label as ads those listings whose providers paid for a higher ranking in search results shown to users.”
“The DSA sets clear responsibilities and we must ensure that the leading booking platform in Europe takes those responsibilities seriously,” Virkkunen added.
Booking.com said that it was cooperating fully and that “security, trust and the protection of personal information are its top priorities.”
