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Google Faces Off With Privacy Laws Redstone
Renews
Push for
CBS Deal
BY KEACH HAGEY
AND JOE FLINT
Shari Redstone is advocat
ing for new blood on the
board of CBS Corp. as she re-
news her push to merge the
company with Viacom Inc, ac
cording to people familiar
with the matter.
Rijksmuseu
Surn Art 13 CBS is planning to propose
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture replacing several of its board
members at its annual meet
ing in May, and Ms. Redstone
is already gathering names of
possible candidates, people fa-
miliar with the matter said.
Ms. Redstone, vice chair-
man of CBS and Viacom, is
also dissatisfied with current
succession planning at CBS
and has suggested there is a
general lack of long-range
strategic planning at the com
pany, these people said.
Earlier this month, Ms.
Redstone reached out to CBS
Chief Executive Leslie
Moonves to jump-start talks
about merging CBS and Via-
com-potentially as soon as
N21 Galey of Art this quarter, the people said.
Barn Art Four of
Washington DC Mr. Moonves has resisted
Google Arts Cute
Google Arts & Culture the idea in the past and still
has concerns, people familiar
A tool from Google that matches selfles with historical artworks was used on Wall Street Journal portraits of clockwise from top with the matter said.
left, Warren Buffett. Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg. Google's Sergey Brin, and PepsiCo's Indra Nooyl For matches, go to ws.com/faceoff. Ms. Redstone and her father,
Sumner Redstone, the 94-year-
BY JACK NICAS
app in Illinois and Texas be related to the biometric law users were taking 450,000 old media mogul, control CBS
cause of the privacy laws, ac have been filed since it selfies an hour. About 30 and Viacom, with a roughly
Millions of people across cording to a person familiar passed in 2008, including one Google employees in Paris 80% voting stake in each,
the U.S. downloaded an app with the company.
against Google that chal who built the app were sur through their National Amuse-
over the holiday weekend to Google Arts & Culture, lenges its Google Photos ser prised by its sudden successments Inc, holding company,
see how a Google algorithm which became the No. 1 free vice, which allows users to and worked through the Ms. Redstone reluctantly
matched their
selfies to his app on the Apple Inc. and search photos by a person's weekend to keep it running pulled the plug on an earlier
torical artwork. But for many Google Play app stores over face. Facebook Inc. and Snap smoothly, the spokesman exploration of a CBS-Viacom
residents of Illinois and the weekend, is among a Inc. have faced similar law. said.
combination in late 2016, but
Texas, the selfie tool was growing wave of tech prod- suits.
Suits have spiked in Illinois she has never stopped believ-
missing.
ucts using software that can A Google spokesman said because its law lets individuing that the deal made sense.
The reason? Laws in those recognize faces-from door the Arts & Culture app uses als sue, said Julia Jacobson, a the people said. CBS and Via-
states ban the collection of bells that identify guests to selfies "only for art matching partner at law firm K&L Gates com had been part of the same
biometric data, including a security cameras that recog- and nothing else."
LLP. Texas and Washington company until Mr. Redstone
record of "face geometry" nize shoplifters to iPhones The company said 12.8 mil state, which passed a less split them in 2006.
without a user's consent that unlock with a glance. lion people had downloaded strict biometric law last year, Ms. Redstone saw recent
Google, a unit of Alphabet Biometric laws pose a chal the app as of Monday night, limit that power to their at- consolidation in the media in
Inc., is blocking the selfie ser lenge to those technologies. With the vast majority occur torneys general.
vice in its arts and culture in Illinois, dozens of lawsuits ring over the weekend, when
dustry-particularly 21st Cen
Please see GOOGLE page 34 Please see ces page RS