Take the surveillance of the EU Commission for Big Tech. From August 25th the large companies that operate in digital will be under the observation lens. The companies that will have to comply with the obligations of transparency and reliability provided by Digital Services Act (DSA) are 19, seventeen platforms and two search engines. In the list, published yesterday by the Commission, the two search engines Bing e Google Search, social platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, e-commerce companies AliExpress, Amazon, Apple Store, Zalando, and the other Google with Google Play, Google Maps e Google Shopping, Booking.com, Wikipedia e YouTube. The EU Commission will not monitor the companies directly, but the experts of the new European Center for Algorithmic Transparency (Ecat), based in Seville, Spain, who will work closely with the national authorities.
“Today is D(SA)-Day for digital regulation. The countdown has begun for 19 very large online platforms and search engines to fully comply with the special obligations that the Digital Services Act imposes on them" - announced the EU commissioner for the internal market, Thierry breton – “These companies will have to change their behaviors if they want to continue operating in Europe”.
The platforms have been targeted on the basis of their user base, which for each reaches at least 45 million people active online every month.
Digital Services Act: 4 months to align policies
The 19 companies will have four months to align their policies with the requirements of the Digital Services Act. If the stakes imposed in the EU regulation are not respected, they are foreseen fines up to 6% of turnover annually and, in the event of a repeat offense, the ban on operating on European territory. Big tech companies have to re-engineer systems to do so ensure high standards of privacy and security. Brussels also calls for attention to online user protection, with particular regard to minors, the prevention of systemic risks and the moderation of content. The adoption of measures against disinformation is also foreseen. “Thanks to the DSA, EU citizens and businesses will be able to benefit from a safer Internet” explained Breton.
Stop advertising based on sensitive data
The EU Commission also requests theor stop displaying advertisements based on sensitive data of the user – such as ethnic origin, political opinions or sexual orientation -, with a de facto prohibition of profiling.
Il Digital Services Act (DSA), approved on 5 July 2022, essentially aims to affirm the principle according to which what is illegal offline must also be illegal online. The reform joins the twin provision of the Digital Markets Act in force since 1 November 2022 to combat unfair practices implemented by large online platforms. The two measures make up the Digital Services Package, which will become enforceable during the year.
