People in Europe, and especially in Germany, prefer to keep personal data to themselves. But US companies know how to trick their users.
According to a study by the German Consumer Organization (vzbv), six large digital companies are violating EU law. Meta, the company behind Facebook, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and the Tik-Tok operator ByteDance are influencing their users with manipulative designs, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Monday edition) reported from the investigation.
The companies’ goal is to obtain consumers’ consent to combine personal data as extensively as possible. Vzbv board member Ramona Pop announced that she would forward the results to the EU and called for consistent implementation of the Digital Market Act. This practice has been prohibited under European law since March 7, 2024. “We are not afraid to issue warnings to the companies,” said Pop.
US companies cheat on data protection
Because the tech giants are “cheating,” Pop told the newspaper. “Tiktok, for example, suggests to users that if you do not agree to this service, we can no longer offer you a free service.” Amazon is trying to obtain consent to data merging directly via the cookie settings.
“And you cannot fully use the Facebook Marketplace without first submitting your data to Facebook.” The tech giants known as “gatekeepers” have considerable influence on what people in Germany consume digitally.
Source: Stern
