A silent revolution is underway in Europe, intended to change the relationships between those who produce digital content and those who use it. March 7, 2024 is came into force on Digital Markets Act, the set of EU laws that regulate digital markets. Together with Digital Services Act, became law on February 17, which provides for new legislation on digital services, constitutes the new European reference framework for the digital world. In the center there protection of minorsof the sensitive data and the obligation to transparency from large technology companies to users.
A legislative package that has been worked on for a long time in Europe and which has recently proven more necessary than ever. Every day we surf the web, view content on social media, purchase products, provide and obtain information. In short, digital has entered the lives of millions of userschange habits and behaviors. Enormous power which until now hid pitfalls to the detriment of a few vague safeguards. From today, transparency becomes law.
You too can rediscover the pleasure of staying informed!
Your support helps protect our independence so that we can continue to produce quality journalism that is open to all.
Support us
What are digital services and markets?
Everything present on the Internet can be summarized under the term “digital services”: search engines, websites, social networks, messaging applications, etc. These are tools that today they are part of our daily lives and which we access with simplicity. Think about how digital has changed the way we shop, listen to music and communicate with others.
In a broader context, these services part of a large digital market where there are businesses, Great technologyThat they control a large part of the digital ecosystem, and the small businesses that use the services they offer. For example, a craft business, which until recently had a local market, can now access the global market thanks to a computer and a good marketing strategy to be visible in search engines.
The general simplification of daily life and the opening of markets are undoubtedly the most advantageous aspects of the ongoing digital transformation. A change which, however, gives rise to some Security concerns on the processing of sensitive data, on the way in which young people use them, on the almost monopolistic exercise that Great technology exercise to the detriment of small businesses, unbalancing themarket fairness based on competition.
Sensitive data and protection of minors, the EU's focus
In addition to the economic problems that the new decrees aim to resolve throughobligation for technology companies to prove their compliance directly to the European Commission to intervene in the territory, the European executive pays particular attention to how sensitive data is handled by companies who owns them andimpact that certain content they have it on the most fragile subjects, particularly young people.
While the first lawsuits are being filed against social networks in third territories, the European Commission on November 9 asked the platforms to produce more information on the use of their services by minors, on their sensitive data and on the measures adopted to comply with new, previous obligations a significant penalty, 6% of annual gross turnover.
This information concerns age verification, screen time limit and effect limitation. “rabbit hole”, a mechanism by which content and products are recommended based on interests. A gray area that includes the activity of profiling (the processing of sensitive and personal data for behavioral marketing purposes).
The obligation to those operating in the sector will have to provide consumers with the tools to self-analyze and report their behavior on the web behavior and content deemed illegal by the European Commission itself.