EU law would let iCloud users transfer their data to rival platforms
The European Union has agreed on rules that would make it easier for people to move their data between services, including iCloud.
The Data Act involves data portability
The European Commission proposed the Data Act in 2022, intending to oversee the data produced by smart devices, machinery, and consumer goods. This initiative forms part of a wider legislative endeavor to limit the influence of major technology companies in the US.
The agreement was reached after seven hours of talks, according to a report from Reuters.
"Tonight's agreement on the Data Act is a milestone in reshaping the digital space," EU industry chief Thierry Breton said in a tweet. "We are on the way of a thriving EU data economy that is innovative and open -- on our conditions."
The Data Act
The legislation simplifies moving to alternative data processing service providers, establishes protective measures against unauthorized data transfers by cloud service providers, and supports the establishment of interoperability standards to facilitate the reuse of data across different industries.
Additionally, the Data Act empowers consumers and companies to have a say in determining how the data generated by their related products can be used. However, manufacturers weakened an initiative to compel them to share data with third parties to offer aftermarket or similar data-oriented services.
Under the provisions of the Data Act, Apple would be required to modify iCloud to simplify the process for users to transfer their data to an alternative platform, such as Google's cloud services. For example, while the company has a "Move to iOS" app on Android to migrate data to a new iPhone or iPad, there is currently no equivalent tool, such as a "Leave Apple" app, available to assist users in transitioning away from the Apple ecosystem.
Other legislation
The new Data Act is one of several pieces of legislation from the EU that affects companies like Apple. For example, the government body signed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) into law in 2022, although they seek to regulate other aspects of the digital sector than the Data Act.
The DMA is designed to regulate "gatekeeper" platforms, which are large tech companies that have significant control over market access in the digital sector. The Act aims to ensure fair competition in the digital market by preventing these gatekeepers from engaging in anti-competitive practices, such as Apple disallowing third-party app stores on its platforms.
That includes practices such as self-preferencing their own services, forcing users to use their services exclusively, or limiting interoperability with other platforms.
Meanwhile, the DSA focuses on regulating online content. It aims to hold larger tech companies accountable for the content on their platforms and requires them to take more responsibility for dealing with illegal content, such as hate speech or counterfeit goods.
The DSA also promotes transparency by requiring platforms to disclose their content moderation policies and the algorithms they use to recommend content to users. This legislation is likely to have a lesser impact on Apple compared to the DMA, as Apple doesn't operate social media platforms.
In summary, while all three acts are part of the EU's digital strategy, they each target different aspects of the digital sector: the Data Act focuses on data governance, the DMA on competition in digital markets, and the DSA on online content regulation.
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Comments
Just like when carriers were obliged to allow customers to take their phone numbers with them when they moved to a different carrier.
Anything that amounts to lock in must be made illegal.
Regards from the USB-IF
Apple is never going to build a “Switch to Android” app, anymore than McDonald’s is ever going to build a “Try Burger King” app, because that is the other guy’s job, and they have *already done this.*
Either that or you just mandate the existence of an XML export function for any data storage system anywhere and allow third parties to write their own translators. But even that would need a specification so that you don't have companies claiming that they're not required to export data that might expose their internal business secrets.
I guess notes and reminders don't really have a standard. Mail accounts can be switched around, but I guess a local mailbox on your computer could be an issue. Although mbox files seem to be common.
Do they just want a slick system for doing this? iPhones have import from Android, and many Android phones have import from iPhone.
It just feels like the answer already exists. Does the government want to come up with a whole new standard for calendars and such?
As pointed out, you can already move the majority of your data without restrictions. The actual “restrictions” have nothing to do with Apple and everything to do with developers.
For example, I can download my photos or files from
iCloud and move them anywhere. But data inside a specific App can be proprietary and I can’t always switch to the same App on Android and have my data go with me.
If anything needs regulation it’s App developers who are the ones making it difficult to switch platforms by not allowing seamless transfer of data.they’re going after the wrong people (Apple, Google…).
The European Commission proposed the Data Act in 2022, intending to oversee the data produced by smart devices, machinery, and consumer goods. This initiative forms part of a wider legislative endeavor to limit the influence of major technology companies in the US.
The agreement was reached after seven hours of talks, according to a report from Reuters.
"Tonight's agreement on the Data Act is a milestone in reshaping the digital space," EU industry chief Thierry Breton said in a tweet. "We are on the way of a thriving EU data economy that is innovative and open -- on our conditions."<
Cloud services not being interoperable is not the problem. The fact that it is already practically seamless to move data from any one of the "gatekeepers" cloud service, (be it Apple, Google, Amazon or Microsoft), to another "gatekeeper" cloud service, is the problem for the EU. This means that most of the revenue generated from consumers paying for cloud storage, will still end up in the US. No matter how the pie is sliced. The EU wants a bigger piece of that pie. But they are not willing to pay for any of the ingredients, supply any of the labor or provide any of the energy, to bake that pie. But they sure as Hell wants to dictate how to bake it.
The EU wants to ensure that it will be just as easy to move data from any of the "gatekeepers" cloud services, to any EU cloud services that wants to compete on smart devices, as it is now to move data between any of the cloud services of the "gatekeepers". But it will be up to the "gatekeepers" to make it seamless. And once this is done, the EU will enforce that "gatekeepers" can not promote their own cloud services, on their own devices. Like how there are a selection of browsers to choose from, users will be able to easily choose what cloud service they want to use on their device. And "gatekeepers" will no longer be allowed to offer free cloud storage space. This would be anti-competitive as the user would most likely keep the same service, when they need to pay for more storage. The smaller EU cloud services would not be able to compete with such an unfair advantage.
Unless you're paying hundreds upfront for massive storage upgrades on all your devices, iCloud+ IS storage. Only ONE of our Apple devices currently in use in the family (out of ten — three iPhones, four iPads, three Macs) actually has the capacity to store the associated photo library locally.
long story short, it’s another wat to screw American companies imo
We have had the 'intercloud' for years now.
The manager of the stored data would be responsible for tech support once the transfer has been completed and verified.
What formats are you referring to?
Our data should not be allowed to sit hostage to any platform.
As our lives become 'digital' it is imperative that barriers come down and interoperability increases.
It started years ago with the requirement that services like Google's had to offer the Take Out option.
Digital legacies are another area that need work, as only relatively recently have we seen companies try to tackle that.
'Right to be forgotten' was good move but needs to evolve, too.