The 27 member states of the European Union unanimously approved the Digital Marketplace Act on July 18, local time.
The Digital Marketplace Act stipulates that large technology companies can only use personal data for targeted advertising with the explicit consent of the user. They must be able to allow users to freely choose their browser, virtual assistant or search engine, etc. Companies that violate the rules will face fines of 10% of their annual global turnover, with cumulative fines capped at 20% for multiple violations, and may face acquisition bans.
The Digital Marketplace Law will cover leaders in online intermediary services, social networks, search engines, operating systems, online advertising services, cloud computing, video sharing services, web browsers and virtual assistants, and will apply to companies with a market capitalization of €75 billion, annual turnover of €7.5 billion, and at least 45 million monthly users, with Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft and other companies meet these criteria.
Several tech giants have previously lobbied against this bill, which now seems unsuccessful. The next step is for the President of the European Council and the President of the European Parliament to sign the law, which will then come into effect six months after it is published in the EU Official Journal.
