Amazon, like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and ByteDance, is subject to new restrictions with the arrival of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) within the European Union. Overview of the changes that the online commerce giant had to implement.
Just like the other Gamams, Amazon must change, according to the European Union. Rather according to the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, the new European legislation which came into force at the beginning of March. Big changes have arrived, including for Amazon (the e-commerce site) and for Amazon Advertising, its advertising network. Here are all the changes that the giant created by Jeff Bezos had to implement.
For this, Amazon published its full report on its site.
You will be able to refuse that your Amazon data is combined with that of Prime Video
The most important change is the end of the automatic combination of your Amazon data and your Prime Video and Audible data for example. In fact, users must now “ provide consent for personalized experiences in our stores when those experiences require us to use data from other Amazon services », specifies the latter in his report. This also works in reverse. Amazon’s services include Prime Video, Audible, Alexa, Twitch, Amazon Music, etc. You must also give your consent “the use of personal data from any Amazon service and third parties to personalize the advertisements we serve on Amazon», We can then read. The consent invitations were sent last December.
These settings can be changed in the “Data and privacy» in the settings of his Amazon account. Concretely, keeping the data combined between Amazon services allows for more reliable purchasing recommendations. In its document sent to the European Commission, Amazon specifies that it can personalize recommendations on its store based on the customer’s Prime Video viewing history.
The change Amazon anticipated: the termination of Amazon Prime
Changes had already been put in place even before the vote on the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In July 2022, Amazon gave in to the European Commission and the European authorities responsible for consumer protection, following a dialogue between these three actors. What consumer protection associations have long questioned were complicated menus and biased wording during the Amazon Prime subscription cancellation procedure. In reality, you had to scroll through several pages each time trying to convince customers to keep their contract.
This is why Amazon made it easier to unsubscribe from Amazon Prime. The company had placed more emphasis on the cancel button and had reduced the explanatory text. However, this type of provision designed to complicate unsubscription is called adark patternand is now banned by the DMA.
Data portability: you’ll probably never need it
Paragraph 9 of Article 6 of the Digital Markets Act states that users must be able to download a copy of their data in such a way as to easily transfer it to third parties. This is in part a small extension of the RPGD, which adds an API system to how data upload works. Amazon now offers its customers “select the specific categories of data they wish to share with the third party.» All this takes place on the page of your Amazon account in the portal «Transfer Your Data“.
Once the request has been made by the customer, the latter will receive a security email to confirm the request. Once processed, Amazon will send a notification to the customer so that they can download a copy of their data. In short, the change is minimal compared to what was already put in place with the GDPR in 2018 when it came into force.