With the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) set to come into force in March, Meta is now allowing users to prevent their information from being shared between Instagram, F…
With the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) set to come into force in March, Meta is now allowing users to prevent their information from being shared between Instagram, Facebook and other services.
The changes, which will apply in the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland, mean that people using Facebook Messenger can either continue using it with their Facebook account or create a stand-alone new Messenger account—in which case they will still be able to use Messenger’s core service offering such as private messaging and chat, voice and video calling.
Those using Facebook Marketplace can also choose whether the service uses their Facebook information or not; those that don’t, says the company, will still be able to browse listings and to buy and sell items, but communication between buyers and sellers will have to be via email rather than Facebook Messenger.
Facebook gamers, meanwhile, get a similar choice—although those that choose not to use their Facebook information for the games they play will face consequences. They will lose access to multiplayer games, in-game purchases and personalized game suggestions, and will only be able to play some single-player games.
And in another move to comply with the DMA, Meta has already started allowing Facebook and Instagram users to prevent their data being used to target ads—but only if they subscribe to a paid service. The move, however, is being challenged by a group of European consumer organizations on the grounds that this isn’t presenting users with a fair alternative.
« Beyond these new choices, everyone using Facebook and Instagram services will continue to benefit from the extensive range of existing tools that we have built to give people choice over the information they share and how we process their data, » said Tim Lamb, director, competition and regulatory, at Meta.
« We are committed to continue working hard to ensure that Meta’s products in the EU comply with the DMA and deliver value to people—we have assembled a large cross-functional team staffed by senior employees from around the globe and across our entire family of apps to achieve that. »
With the DMA set to come into force on March 6, Meta isn’t the only company to make changes to the way it uses customers’ personal data.
Earlier this month, for example, Google announced plans to let users opt out of data sharing across its YouTube, Search, ad services, Google Play, Chrome, Google Shopping and Google Maps services. Again, says the firm, « If services aren’t linked, some features may be limited or unavailable. »
The intention behind the DMA is to curb the dominance of big tech firms in the EU, with a number of measures designed to improve competition. These include requiring messaging apps to be interoperable with their competitors, while operating systems will need to offer the option of third-party app stores and allow alternative in-app payment options.
« The Digital Markets Act will help creating a level playing field for all companies competing in the European digital market, as it will bring about more contestability and openness in markets, » said commissioner Didier Reynders.
French