Big Tech Will Have To Explain Their Algorithms Under New EU Rule

Dominant tech companies will have to explain how their algorithms work under proposed new EU rules and also open up their ad archives to regulators and researchers, Europe’s digital and antitrust chief said on Friday, October 30.

The move is likely to impact US online giants such as Alphabet unit Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook, with their treasure troves of data and lucrative online advertising businesses, reported Reuters.  Advertising algorithms help companies target ads at the users that advertisers want to reach.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the goal was to shed light on how these algorithms work and to make sure that companies are accountable for their decisions.

“And the biggest platforms would have to provide more information on the way their algorithms work, when regulators ask for it,” she told an event organised by research agency AlgorithmWatch and the European Policy Centre.

“They’d also have to give regulators and researchers access to the data they hold – including ad archives,” Vestager said.

She will announce two sets of draft rules known as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act on December 2, underlining the EU’s determination to rein in tech giants and force them to play fairer.

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