The Authority Consumer & Market (ACM) has investigated whether companies comply with European digital legislation aimed at improving the security of online services. In many cases, companies are not yet working in compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Authority Consumer & Market concludes.
Part of this law is that companies offering online services must ensure that consumers have somewhere to turn if they have complaints. There should also be clear policies for suspending accounts. In addition to the DSA, there is also a Platform-to-Business Regulation (P2B). This requires, among other things, that general terms and conditions of businesses be clear and transparent.
The ACM oversees these laws in the Netherlands but is not expected to start enforcing them until next year, when the regulator is actually authorized to do so. The ACM's investigation shows that general terms and conditions are often not easy to find or do not contain the right information. Moreover, not all online platforms have a contact point and do not always offer a way to report illegal content.
According to ACM board chairman Martijn Snoep, many companies are not yet aware of all the rules they have to comply with. "We want to send a signal to all providers of online services: get your act together as soon as possible."
Click here for the message from the ACM.