In the midst of ongoing debates about the significance of digital privacy and who owns and uses the personal information we provide for different purposes and purposes, the EU continues to set the standard by establishing the most modern regulations in the field. Certain aspects of this have been extremely beneficial, while other is a hinderance in many ways. However, at present, European officials are clearly taking the largest steps within the wider digital privacy arena. In a watershed moment for Digital Marketing idustry today,
And it appears it’s going to be forced to make another move. This week, the European Union reached provisional agreement on the new “Digital Markets Act’ which includes a variety of elements. It will attempt to put limitations on how data of users can be shared. In addition, it also seeks to reduce the dominant position of big tech giants by enforcing greater open access. The legislation aims at stopping the biggest tech companies by utilizing their encryption tools as well as their vast resources to box users in and thwart new rivals, opening the way for new players and encouraging greater competition. What that means in practice is that firms like Google are no longer allowed to gather information from multiple services to display targeted ads without consent of users and that Apple could be required to offer alternative options to the App Store for iPhones as well as iPads. Infractions of the law, that will be in effect in the latter part of this year, could be subject to sanctions as high as 20% of their global revenues which could go to tens of billions of dollars if they repeat infractions.
The Digital Markets Act is part of a double-whammy from European regulators. By the end of next month in the month of April, it is expected that the European Union is expected to agree on a law that will require social media companies, like Meta which is the proprietor of Facebook and Instagram to monitor their platforms more vigorously. According to EU administrators, the aim is making the technology industry “open and contestable.” “So it depends on your ideas, your work ethics, your ability to attract capital, whether you’ll be successful with your customers or not,” said Vestager. “And unfortunately, because of the systemic nature of behavior, that’s not necessarily the case today.”
According to Politico:
“The new rules for so-called ‘gatekeeper platforms’, derived from years of antitrust enforcement in the digital economy, include restrictions on combining personal data from different sources, mandates to allow users to install apps from third-party platforms, prohibitions on bundling services, and a prohibition on self-preferencing practices.”
Apple particularly is under fire over this last aspect, with evidence suggesting that its most recent ATT version, that asks users to join the app data collection, in the end with Apple’s own ad products as it’s in a position to collect more information than the apps that use its platform.
Furthermore further, it is also expected that the Digital Markets Act would also introduce new interoperability standards for messaging platforms, which means that you’ll be able to exchange messages across multiple messaging platforms at no cost. Vendors would have to “open to and work to smaller platforms for messaging should they request. It is also required that users be in a position to “freely choose their browser, virtual assistants or search engines.”
“Parliament was also able to convince the Council of the need for interoperability for messaging platforms, which means companies like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or iMessage will need to connect and work with other messaging platforms. For chats with groups the is a requirement that will be implemented over 4 years.”
It has many possibilities regarding privacy issues, digital marketing, public relations and much more.
The process of getting this to happen will take some time to master however, it could result in an important shift in the way that people communicate in addition to the wider implications.
The main part of the plan is to end what the EU calls “killer acquisitions.”
“The Commission might prohibit gatekeepers from engaging in acquisitions within the relevant areas of this regulation, for instance digital or the use of data in related areas e.g. gaming researchers, consumer products and fitness devices, as well as health-related financial services and for a short period of time when it is appropriate and proportionate to minimize the harm caused by repeated violations or to limit further damage to the fairness and contestability of the market.”
Meta was accused by some of employing this strategy to defuse opposition, and the acquisitions it made from WhatsApp, Instagram and even GIF maker GIPHY remains under scrutiny in certain regions.
It is important to note that the law’s scope is quite specific, targeting the major players:
“To be considered a “gatekeeper company, they would have to provide a primary platform service in at minimum three EU countries, and at minimum 45 million monthly end users, in addition to greater than 10,000 business users. A list of the indicators that should be used by providers of core platform services in measuring the number of monthly end users as well as annual business users is to be made available in an annexe in the proposal Regulation.”
A small percentage of platforms are never likely to be able to achieve that size however for those that are functioning at that level this could mean that big changes are on the way, likely the most dramatic change since the enactment of the GDPR in 2018.
Penalties for violations of the new regulations could be as high as 10% of a business’s annual turnover worldwide, and could be even higher when there are repeated violations.
The bill is sweeping that is still facing some issues that could arise. However, it has cleared the first major hurdle and even though these changes would technically only be applicable for EU citizens, if the bill is approved the bill will be implemented across all platforms and regions.
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