we'll miss out on this due to some idiots voting for Brexit.

When will they also crack down on Right To Repair. We should have the rights to repair our own kit and the likes of John Deere, Apple etc shouldn't demand "You don't own your kit, you just rent it. Want it repaired? Take it to one of OUR repair shops, NOT the local one round the corner that can do just as good if not better job".

If you want legislation like this in the UK, ask your MP to raise it in Parliament and get it written, voted on and brought into law.

It's called democracy, which I appreciate is a bit scary after so long in the EU.

Democracy .... in the UK. Next joke

The EU is democratic. Something Brits might have a better handle on, had they not voted the likes of Farage as their MEPs.

"The EU is anti-democratic and scary. The UK is democratic and not scary. We can prove this by lobbying the British government so they do this good thing they are already doing in the EU."

I mean, what?

So which massaging platform will WhatsApp users be able to send messages to? Will I have to install extras?

Telegram, Signal, .. any messaging platform?

Far-fetched? Well, someone who uses gmail can mail to someone using outlook or his ISP's mail. Utter magic!

More importantly how do I, as someone who wouldn't touch whatsapp with a ten foot pole, prevent whatsapp users from messaging me on other platforms?

Re. para 3, which massaging platform will WhatsApp users be able to send messages to? Will I have to install extras?

The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act puts the burden of proof on organizations ensuring they succeed in arguing an acquisition is lawful, as opposed to the government having to prove that it impacts competition.

Wouldn't that encourage any acquisition to be sold using lobby fiction sales pitches and delusional fantasies of advantageous fantastic wonders for any and all citizen of the universe? And of course, using the appropriate dinner places to sell the pitch as proof that all is well.

Anyhow, the government(s) still need to look into the acquisition, just like they do now. Relying on what companies say they will do and what actually happens are two quite different things. Regardless the burden of proof. You do not go back once a deal is made. They might pay a fine, which is probably calculated as cost of the deal and the responsible CxO levels will get a stern talking to. And nothing changes.

If you really want some changes, then you have to incarcerate all CxOs at the first sign of trouble with no possibility of parole. But that would never happen, even when the faults and lies become obvious. No rules will have any significant effect as long as the leadership is not personally liable for any problem(s).

What's there not to like ?

As a consumer, obviously.

As a multinational behemoth rolling in dough, there's plenty not to like, but I don't give a flying fig about that.

I think I like it. Cross-platform messaging sounds like fun. If the content is standard format, then write a lightweight client. We'd then have a viable app that didn't come with all the spy & adware crap bundled into the official apps.

Yes, but now you just have to get everyone else off the official apps that still do the stalking.

While I agree about the desirability, there'll be a mammoth argument about who controls the encryption keys, particularly for group communication.

Or much more likely, the big tech firms just create an EU+UK product and leave it at that. We have the laws without being able to change them.

US + UK version, the UK one won't require any data protection features

I'm onside purely for getting rid of uninstallable apps!

Which will simply be made part of the OS, like the browser that is at the heart of win32

"WhatsApp, owned by Facebook parent company Meta, will be asked to ensure they have the ability to send messages to users of an entirely different messaging platform."

I'm not sure that makes any difference as even if I was able to use Telegram or whatever to message friends who use WhatsApp, WhatsApp would still presumably get all of my user data. App use and popularity for this sort of stuff is driven by whomever shouts loudest and what is easiest to use - and unfortunately almost all of my non-IT contacts and friends use WhatsApp : which means that I still need to use WhatsApp.

Set to begin today at 3pm CET (2pm GMT), the process involves a "trialogue" discussion between representatives from the directly elected European Parliament, the Council of the EU, made up of ministers from member state governments, and the European Commission, the executive branch made up of commissioners nominated by member-state governments.

The title says it all. White noise candy for practically all of the virtually lost at see boys and girls. N’est ce pas?

they must be forced to fully describe what data they take and what they do with it. Eg none of this sort of [1]games by Google .

Users must be allowed to say "no" to this data grab in a way that is just as easy as re-enabling it; the default should be "no".

If this is broken the penalty should be a large fine AND jail time for the programmers & their managers all the way to the top.

[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/21/google_messages_gdpr/

This.

Any app (or service) that collects data and sends it off device must describe exactly what data, why it is being collected, and have an option to opt in (opted out by default) unless said data is necessary. This must also account for any and all third party uses in connection with the app.

Enough is enough.

None of this "for diagnostics" crap. Necessary is, if a messaging app, the message the user wants to send, and an ID for checking if there are messages to collect. Location, phone number, address book, screen size, processor type, underwear colour, and amount of protein in the last meal are not necessary items of data.

Does this mean it'll hit apps that pilfer user data by way of in-app advertising? Yup. And see, this is me giving a shit.

Enough is enough.

And +1 for the managers seeing jail time. Not necessarily the programmers (they're told what to do) but certainly the managers. And twice as long if the data collection was due to "a rogue programmer" as that implies there's absolutely no code auditing going on.

Enough is enough.

Icon, seems appropriate.

"the rules are pretty black and white with limited scope to reduce their impact once they are in force; ". Whatever are they thinking of? This is big business and the government, forever joined at the hip. There'll be tears before bedtime.

I sometimes get the impression that they make the content of these laws up specifically to fit into the clever acronym they've chosen first.

The ability to send messages electronically to any user on any device? It'll never catch on...................... Now, let me think, what was the number of my PRESTEL mailbox again?