These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

Happy Friday!

This week, we tracked 56 funding deals worth over 700 million euros, as well as 6 M&A transactions across Europe, Israel, and Turkey.

We listed every single deal in our weekly newsletter (note: the full newsletter is now available to paying subscribers only). Here’s an extra overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:

1) Last Saturday, the Observer published the account of a former worker at UK-based data firm Cambridge Analytica, who lifted the lid on the company’s relationship with Facebook. Christopher Wylie revealed how an academic, Aleksandr Kogan, had harvested data from users via a personality quiz on the social network and through his company Global Science Research (GSR) had shared it with Cambridge Analytica. Since then, there have been more revelations about both firms and about the way consumers’ data is used.

2) The European Commission wants to see big tech firms pay a 3% tax on some of their revenues. This is a major break from the traditional way of calculating tax based on profits.

3) German fintech startup N26 has raised a $160 million Series C round led by Tencent and Allianz and previous investors.

4) Ubisoft has successfully gotten Vivendi out of its hair. The gaming publisher and the multimedia conglomerate have agreed to a deal in which Vivendi will fully divest itself of Ubisoft, ending once and for all a years-long effort by Vivendi that was seemingly intended to take control of Ubisoft.

5) Israeli social trading platform eToro has raised $100 million to bolster its blockchain development, led by Hong Kong-based China Minsheng Financial. The company is reportedly valued at $800 million.

6) VC firm Eight Roads Ventures Europe, the investment division of fund managers Fidelity International, has launched its new $375 million fund to invest in European and Israeli scale-ups. Dubbed ERVE III, it is Eight Roads’ third Europe-focused venture fund and will address the increasing demands for funding for growth stage companies, the London-based firm said.

7) Telegram, the encrypted messaging app, has lost a bid before Russia’s Supreme Court to block security services from getting access to users’ data, giving President Vladimir Putin a victory in his effort to keep tabs on electronic communications.

8) Swedish investment firm Verdane Capital has closed its new fund at 3 billion SEK (€295 million) to back high-growth Nordic startups.

9) Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab plans to open a data center in Switzerland to address Western government concerns that Russia exploits its anti-virus software to spy on customers, according to internal documents seen by Reuters.

Ireland on Friday chose Amundi, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs Asset Management to manage up to 15 billion euros in disputed taxes Brussels has ordered it to collect from Apple.

Bonus link: Bulgaria rising: Can a growing startup movement reinvent the country’s economy? (Venturebeat)