Interoperability
Interoperability refers to the ability of different digital systems, services, or platforms to work together and exchange information seamlessly. In the context of EU digital regulation, interoperability ensures that users can communicate across platforms, switch services easily, and access data without being locked into a single provider's ecosystem.
Legal Basis
While the TTPA Regulation (EU 2024/900) does not directly define interoperability, the concept is central to the Digital Markets Act:
"Gatekeepers shall allow end users to freely choose to use the services of third-party providers and facilitate the seamless switching of those services, including by providing for simple and effective portability of data."
— Article 6, Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 (Digital Markets Act)
Interoperability is also referenced in the Digital Services Act as a principle for ensuring open digital markets and user choice.
Why It Matters
Interoperability matters because it prevents large platforms from locking users into their services and restricts competition. For political advertising, this is particularly relevant as it affects how campaigns can reach audiences across different platforms and how users can access political information regardless of which service they use.
Publishers and platforms providing political advertising services may need to ensure their systems can work with other services, particularly when it comes to transparency reporting, ad repositories, and user data portability. This affects how political actors plan multi-platform campaigns and how voters access information about political advertising across different channels.
For enforcement authorities, interoperability facilitates oversight by enabling better data sharing and transparency across platforms. It helps ensure that political advertising transparency obligations can be monitored effectively, even when campaigns span multiple digital services.
Key Points
- Interoperability enables different digital systems to exchange data and work together without technical barriers
- It prevents vendor lock-in and promotes user choice by allowing easy switching between services
- The Digital Markets Act requires gatekeepers (very large platforms) to ensure interoperability with third-party services
- For political advertising, interoperability supports transparency by enabling cross-platform monitoring and reporting
- It allows political actors to run campaigns across multiple platforms while maintaining compliance
- Interoperability requirements apply primarily to very large platforms designated as gatekeepers under the DMA
Interoperability vs. Data Portability
While related, interoperability and data portability are distinct concepts. Data portability refers to a user's right to transfer their personal data from one service to another in a usable format—it's about moving your data out. Interoperability goes further: it means services can actively communicate and work together in real-time, allowing users to access features across platforms without moving data at all.
For example, data portability lets you download your contacts from one social network to import into another. Interoperability would let you message users on a different social network directly from your current platform, without either of you switching services.