EU unveils ‘revolutionary’ laws to curb big tech firms’ power
www.theguardian.com
Digital Markets Act aims to allow more competition and let consumers delete preloaded phone apps
  • New regulations will target six major tech companies to improve consumer experience and data privacy. These include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft.
  • Pre-installed apps like weather and email that are difficult to delete will be disallowed, aiming to promote interoperability and reduce “gatekeeping” activities.
  • Companies will be prohibited from monetizing user data collected from phone apps for advertising purposes.
  • The regulations will encourage competition by allowing alternative payment systems, benefiting startups and consumers.
  • The European Commission aims to empower consumers and ensure tech giants adhere to European rules, providing immediate accountability for any issues.
      • rmuk@feddit.ukEnglish
        17·
        1 year ago

        Not the person you asked, but for me:

        • In 2017 I lost my £70,000/yr dream job as the company I worked at decided they couldn’t keep their EMEA campus in a country that hasn’t decided how, when or even if they were going to allow foreigners in.
        • I had to move to a shithole town in Nottinghamshire to live by myself in a cramped one-bedroom flat to do a job I hated for £22,000/yr.
        • That company went under because we couldn’t import the network equipment into the UK because of Brexit. Most vendors weren’t bothering since there were shortages anyway, so why not just send all their stock to Germany where there’s no nasty surprises and plenty of buyers waiting.
        • Ended up doing minimum-wage shift work at an Amazon warehouse and Deliveroo deliveries to survive.
        • Got another, similar job on £20,000/yr.
        • Not had a holiday in six years. I used to have at least two a year.
        • Can’t get a CPAP machine for my apnoea because of difficulty importing them (ended up getting a friend in France to buy one for me).
        • Local supermarkets still can’t get a lot of fresh fruit that they used to stock. Empty shelves common.
        • My savings went from £50,000 to zero.
        • Government is pissing money away on detention centres and hotels for immigrants because they refuse to cooperate with the EU.
        • Government is also planning on ripping up our Human Rights (ostensibly to deal with the immigrants) and has even indicated they would like to abolish GDPR, bringing it full circle to OP’s comment.

        So, yeah. Not everyone has had as bad a time as me, but everyone I know has encountered some negative fallout. I’ve yet to encounter anyone who has actually benefitted, even indirectly.

        • Granixo@feddit.clEnglish
          7·
          1 year ago

          Jesus, i’m really sad to hear all that. 😢

          Let’s hope the british goverment comes out soon with a good strategy to push the economy forward, (or just reverse brexit altogether).

        • HaggierRapscallier@feddit.nlEnglish
          6·
          1 year ago

          So err, do you think the country has any chance of fixing stuff up, considering Poland is on track to overtake the UK at this rate, within a decade? And have perhaps some of your political ideas/values or strongly held beliefs changed at all?

          • rmuk@feddit.ukEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            My political ideology has definately changed: I now think of myself as European, rather than British. The point of the EU project is that it doesn’t fucking matter what flag you live under, or what language you talk, or which imaginary friend you worship; for all our differences were 99% the same, and want to live in safe places, eat good food, travel freely, speak out minds, work rewarding jobs, love who we want, work together to make the world better and delight in seeing others getting do the same. As a sometimes-vegeratian, coffee-loving IT worker from Manchester I have more in common with sometimes-vegetarian, coffee-loving IT workers from Mannheim, Maribor or Madrid than I do with some fat-necked millionaire power-lusting would-be dictator with whom my only common ground is a flag.

            The purpose of the EU and it’s predecessors is to make war in Europe impossible. It’s that simple. Who are these people that would see that undone? Whoever they are, they call themselves British.

            • HaggierRapscallier@feddit.nlEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              Lol, some would call you over remain-minded. I appreciate that you miss what you lost clearly (beyond the wages).

              As an EU citizen in blighty, I care even less about the EU than before seeing that even the wealthiest countries within the EU have regressed socially and politically.