Today, the European Commission published its final report on the sector inquiry into products and services related to the Internet of Things (IoT).
The report points to potential competition issues within this rapidly growing market, where the IoT is becoming part of everyday life for more and more consumers. As a result, the availability of voice assistants as user interfaces through which consumers can interact with various smart devices is increasing.
Based on a public consultation, comments from stakeholders such as leading vendors, smart device manufacturers, creative content providers, associations, or telecom operators were incorporated in the report.
The following areas were deemed problematic:
- Lack of exclusivity and tying practices: Voice assistants and other practices often limit the ability to use different voice assistants on the same smart device.
- Intermediary function of concern: Voice assistants and operating systems of smart devices are seen as intermediaries between users and smart devices, i.e. the services they provide to consumers. However, this position and their key role in data generation and collection could also enable them to control user relationships and behavior.
- Personal data: Voice assistant providers have extensive access to data, including information about users' interactions with smart devices and third-party consumer-related services.
- Lack of interoperability: Proprietary technologies sometimes lead to the creation of ‘de facto standards’ for consumers. Certain voice assistant and operating system vendors would have unilateral control over interoperability and integration processes, limiting smart device functionality and third-party consumer-related services.
Margrethe Vestager, the Commission's Executive Vice President in charge of competition policy, noted: "The consumer Internet of Things sector is increasingly becoming part of our everyday life. The final findings of our sector inquiry confirm concerns identified in the preliminary report. This is a market with high barriers to entry, few vertically integrated players and concerns about access to data, interoperability or exclusivity practices amongst others. We are confident that the sector inquiry's findings will provide guidance on the Commission's future enforcement and regulatory activity. We are also hopeful that it will stimulate companies to pro-actively address those concerns."
Source: EC
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