EU Wants To Limit Apple & Google’s Pre-Installed Apps

The EU is drafting new rules intended to curb the power of big US platforms such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple, reported Business Insider.

The draft rules, known as the Digital Services Act, aim to set the ground rules for data-sharing and how digital marketplaces operate. They are expected to come into force by the end of the year.

The European Commission is taking a tough line against US tech giants, driven in part by antitrust cases resulting in decisions that subsequently failed to boost competition because of the lengthy process that typically takes several years.

The case has taken on urgency because of the dependence of thousands of EU companies on the US tech giants for their business.

Gatekeepers, such as companies with bottleneck power or strategic market status, will not be allowed to use data collected on their platforms to target users unless this data is shared with rivals, according to the document seen by Reuters.

“… nor require from any third party operating system developers or hardware manufacturers to pre-install exclusively gatekeepers’ own application,” the paper stated.