The European Union is preparing to force big technology companies to share their customer data with smaller rivals, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing an early draft of its landmark 'Digital Services Act' regulations.
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of Google logo in this illustration picture, April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoREUTERS: The European Union is preparing to force big technology companies to share their customer data with smaller rivals, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing an early draft of its landmark 'Digital Services Act' regulations.
"The likes of Amazon and Google shall not use data collected on the platform . . . for own commercial activities . . . unless they accessible to business users active in the same commercial activities," the FT reported, quoting the draft. https://on.ft.com/3cGTwBfEU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager would announce by the end of this year tough new rules under the Act, aimed to increase social media companies' responsibilities and liability for content on their platforms.
The draft suggests that technology giants may be banned from preferential treatment of their own services on their sites or platforms, to the detriment of rivals, according to the report. Companies should not be allowed to pre-install their own applications on hardware devices, such as laptops or phones, or force other companies to exclusively pre-install their software, it added.