On Tuesday, 19 March, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age issued a warning to Apple and Meta regarding their new fees for services. Vestager expressed concern that these fees could prevent users from enjoying the benefits of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and having more choices.
The announcement comes on the same day Meta offered to halve the monthly subscription fee for its European services. Despite the concession, Austrian lawyer, privacy activist and honorary chair of the not-for-profit organisation NOYB, Max Schrems, said, "the issue is not about the level of the fee."
Commenting on the announcement, TechCrunch highlighted that the Commission is paying careful attention to the coercion tactics used by gatekeepers to circumvent the intended impact of the EU's digital rules. In specific remarks about Meta, an EU spokesperson said, "According to consumer law, consumers should be in a position to make economic choices in a fair and unbiased manner so that they do not take a decision that would be contrary to their interest."
What is this page?
You are reading a summary article on the Privacy Newsfeed, a free resource for DPOs and other professionals with privacy or data protection responsibilities helping them stay informed of industry news all in one place. The information here is a brief snippet relating to a single piece of original content or several articles about a common topic or thread. The main contributor is listed in the top left-hand corner, just beneath the article title.
The Privacy Newsfeed monitors over 300 global publications, of which more than 5,750 summary articles have been posted to the online archive dating back to the beginning of 2020. A weekly roundup is available by email every Friday.
