The new EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark piece of antitrust legislation intended to maintain competition specifically in the digital sector, has cleared the final legislative hurdle after its adoption by the Council of the European Union in July. This is the first major overhaul of digital legislation in the EU in more than two decades and will have an impact throughout the tech industry for years to come. The DMA sets out a new framework of obligations for large online platforms, so-called ‘gatekeepers’ who provide ‘core platform services’. The DMA provides an extensive list of what constitutes ‘core platform services’ — ubiquitous services such as search engines, social networking services, video-sharing platform services, operating systems, web browsers, virtual assistants, cloud computing services and online advertising services all fall within scope. The DMA further applies a threshold in terms of turnover, end users and business user numbers that generally must be met, which limits the field of regulated entities. Although the DMA will not come into force before Q2 2024 (with a six-month implementation phase), companies providing ‘core platform services’, and those likely to receive data from such companies, should proactively seek to understand the implications not only of the DMA, but also how the DMA interacts with existing privacy laws such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Background to the Act The DMA has been in discussion since 2020 as a supplement to existing competition law and part of the EU’s overall digital strategy. The stated purpose is to rein in what legislators perceive to be the substantial economic power of major tech companies and their ability to block “the entry of new market participants”, leading to “serious imbalances in bargaining power.” The DMA essentially establishes additional requirements for core online platforms, designated in the DMA as ‘gatekeepers’, to ensure they are not limiting competition How the EUDigital Markets Act Affects GDPR Tom Keya Founder, Soulh 71-75, Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ www.tomkeya.com 42 LAWYERMONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 Special Feature Coming into effect later this year, the EU Digital Markets Act will have a profound effect o th re ulation of ‘gatekeeper’ giants in the digital tech sector. It will also intersect with GDPR rules, impacting many companies currently active in Europe. Bojana Bellamy and Aaron Simpson of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP examine this impact and how businesses should prepare.
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