Arriving in 2021, the UK's Digital Markets Unit 'could' start to do something about the power of online ad giants
- Reference: 1606480444
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/27/uk_dmu/
- Source link:
It's been a while coming. An investigation into online advertising in the UK [2]was kicked off last year by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to gauge the power of the giants and assess if customers understood what data was being collected and monetised.
The result, and a potential nightmare scenario for the likes of Google and Facebook in the UK, will be a new statutory code of conduct aimed at giving consumers more choice and control over what happens to their data as well as enabling small businesses to better promote themselves online.
"Online platforms bring huge benefits for businesses and society," said noted UK lawmakers before adding that the concentration of power among a small number of tech companies, such as Facebook and Google, could both reduce innovation and potentially have "negative impacts on the people and businesses that rely on them."
Cue a code of conduct backed up by UK law.
Sadly for consumers, but perhaps a ray of hope for the ad-flinging behemoths, things remain rather fuzzy and somewhat heavy on the word "could" at the moment. Platforms "could" be required to be more transparent about what they are doing with consumer data and offer up more choices. The DMU "could be given powers to suspend, block and reverse decisions of tech giants," as well as imposing fines for non-compliance.
If given enough teeth, the new unit might well prove to be a thorn in Google and Facebook's side and will be informed by the work of Digital Markets Taskforce (DMT), aimed at advising the government on how to design and implement measures to foster competition. Its report is expected later this year.
As for the DMU, it will start work in April but won't be able to do much without some power behind it. The government will decide on the DMU's form and function, and will legislate when parliamentary time allows.
'Something must be done'
Neil Brown, managing director at tech law firm [3]decoded.legal told The Register : "Today's announcement is placeholder for what is to come, rather than anything substantive in itself. It signals intent, and there is a strong sense of 'something must be done', but the detail of the proposed measures is left for next year.
"The government says that it intends to legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows, but whether that will be after the consultations foreshadowed by today's announcement, or in parallel with them, remains to be seen.
"Curiously, since 'online harms' seems to be the stock phrase for anything anyone dislikes about the internet, that term is missing from today's announcement. However, since one of the proposals in respect of that area of policy includes giving Ofcom powers to dictate a platform's terms of service, it looks like there will be an overlap there too."
As for the tech giants themselves, Google pointed to the benefits of online platforms with UK & Ireland veep Ronan Harris saying: "Online tools have proved to be a lifeline during the pandemic and they can help create a digital, sustainable and inclusive recovery. We support an approach that benefits people, businesses and society and we look forward to working constructively with the Digital Markets Unit so that everyone can make the most of the internet."
We asked Facebook for its take on matters, but the anti-social media company has yet to respond. ®
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[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-competition-regime-for-tech-giants-to-give-consumers-more-choice-and-control-over-their-data-and-ensure-businesses-are-fairly-treated
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/07/05/uks_competition_watchdog_set_to_investigate_lack_of_said_competition_in_online_ad_land/
[3] https://decoded.legal/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Good idea but will it have teeth?
"Cue a code of conduct backed up by UK law."
It would have a lot more clout if it had been backed up by EU law.
Still, that's the price you pay for "Taking back control."
Re: Good idea but will it have teeth?
Really! You managed to to change this into a remain leave argument?
The UK ad business is worth a lot of money. Yes if it has teeth it will have the clout needed but the teeth is the important part.
Bring it on... right now
Better still, just close down Google and Fartbook. Be brave.
The way forward?
' Platforms "could" be required to be more transparent about what they are doing with consumer data and offer up more choices. '
They already are required to - by a little piece of legislation called the General Data protection Act (UK Data protection Act 2018). They simply ignore it, and the regulator seems to have no real clout to enforce it.
The biggest problem is the huge economic disparity between the offender and the regulator. The slurper behemoths have turnovers greater than the GNP of some nations, but the ICO is funded by UK registrant fees. Consequently the offender can win simply by making it too expensive to pursue enforcement (this has already happened). The second major hurdle is the transnational nature of the behemoths. This allows them to shuffle around to evade national legislation, as only the USA seems to allot itself transnational jurisdiction, and the behemoths are based there. The third (at least potential) problem is the noises being made by some UK politicians suggesting they want to dismantle the protections the GDPR ostensibly provides once we pass January 1st 2021.
Overall, there seems to be bu**er all that UK legislation can do to curb these behemoths. If anything is going to change, the public must vote with its mice. That could be supported by public education, but considering the power of (and contribution to GNP provided by) advertising there will be little enthusiasm for this.
UK & IT
With their track record this will just end up as another F U failure .... but this is the UK, patron country of screwing things up.
Please change the name, will ruin searches
As a railway modeller I like to research various vehicles.
Some of them underfloor engine fitted.
I already have a university messing up some of my searches.
Luckily the major search engines have dropped them down the rankings a bit.
Good idea but will it have teeth?
That's the thing isn't it. I want it to be able to absolutely scare companies
No piffling little fines of billionaire tech corps
I'd LOVE the directors of offending companies to be personally legally accountable.
Without teeth this is doomed...