DMA Expands To Data Access
- The Digital Markets Act is moving beyond app-store rules toward enforcing data-access and technical controls on platforms. - Brussels opened a consultation proposing Google share more search-data with rivals under DMA rules. - That shift forces platform teams to reconcile new interoperability demands with privacy and child-safety controls like the EU's age-verification push ( ).
Brussels is pushing the Digital Markets Act past app-store fights and into the raw plumbing of search data. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) On April 16, the European Commission sent Google preliminary findings that say it should give rival search engines access to ranking, query, click and view data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The public consultation on those proposed measures opened April 17 under Article 6(11) of the law. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu; digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The Commission said the goal is to let other search services “optimise” their products and challenge Google Search more effectively. In January, Brussels had already opened specification proceedings on Google’s search-data sharing and Android interoperability duties under the same law. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu; digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The shift is important because the Digital Markets Act was first understood mainly through app stores, self-preferencing and default settings. The new Google case turns the law into a tool for forcing access to data and technical interfaces that competitors say they need to build viable alternatives. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu; digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) That puts platform teams in a harder spot: the same European institutions pressing for more interoperability are also tightening child-safety controls. On April 15, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s age-verification app was technically ready and would soon be available for citizens to use. (commission.europa.eu; euronews.com) In plain terms, Brussels is asking large platforms to open some doors while proving they can still lock others. Search-data sharing requires disclosure rules, eligibility checks and anonymisation methods; age checks require systems that can confirm a user is old enough without exposing extra personal data. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu; commission.europa.eu) The Commission’s January notice said its Google proceedings would examine the scope of data, the anonymisation method, the conditions of access and whether artificial-intelligence chatbot providers should qualify for access. That means the case is not only about classic search engines, but also about newer AI products that rely on search-like data to answer users’ questions. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu; dig.watch) Google has not yet been hit with a final order in this process; these are proposed measures and a consultation. The next fight is likely to center on how much data can be shared in practice without breaching privacy, security or child-protection rules that Brussels is advancing at the same time. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu; euronews.com)
