The EU's Digital Markets Act isn't just about regulating Big Tech—it's reshaping data sharing requirements and privacy documentation needs across the entire digital ecosystem. If your business integrates with designated gatekeepers or operates in digital markets, DMA's privacy provisions create new compliance obligations that go far beyond GDPR. This comprehensive guide explains what DMA means for your privacy program, which businesses are affected, and the specific documentation changes you need to implement now.

When the EU's Digital Markets Act took effect in 2023, most small and medium businesses dismissed it as "just another Big Tech regulation." Here's what they missed: DMA doesn't just constrain gatekeepers—it fundamentally changes how data flows through the digital ecosystem, creating new privacy obligations for thousands of businesses that never considered themselves subject to platform regulation.

I recently spoke with a SaaS founder who integrated their authentication system with Google's services. They were shocked to discover that DMA's data portability requirements meant they needed to completely revise their privacy policy to explain how user data could now flow between their service and competing platforms. That's not a Big Tech problem—that's a real compliance issue for a 15-person startup.

The Digital Markets Act isn't primarily a privacy law—it's a competition regulation designed to prevent digital gatekeepers from abusing their market position. But competition and privacy are deeply intertwined in digital markets, and DMA's provisions create specific privacy compliance obligations that sit alongside your GDPR requirements.

If your business operates in the EU, integrates with major platforms, or handles data that flows through designated gatekeepers, you need to understand DMA's privacy implications now. Let me walk you through exactly what this means for your business.

What Is the Digital Markets Act and Why Does Privacy Matter?

The Digital Markets Act is the EU's answer to platform dominance in digital markets. It designates certain large platforms as "gatekeepers"—companies with significant market power that control access to customers—and imposes specific obligations to prevent them from abusing that position.

As of 2025, designated gatekeepers include:

  • Alphabet (Google Search, Chrome, Android, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Ads)
  • Amazon (Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Ads)
  • Apple (iOS, Safari, App Store)
  • ByteDance (TikTok)
  • Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook Marketplace)
  • Microsoft (Windows, LinkedIn, Microsoft Advertising)
  • Samsung (Samsung Internet Browser)

But here's what matters for your privacy program: Many of DMA's core obligations directly impact how personal data is collected, shared, and disclosed. The regulation requires gatekeepers to:

Allow data portability and interoperability, which means your business might suddenly have access to user data from competing platforms—and you need to explain that in your privacy documentation.

Provide access to data generated on their platforms, creating new data flows that must be disclosed to users and potentially creating new processor relationships you need to document.

Separate services and data usage, which affects how you can leverage data across different business functions and what you need to disclose about internal data sharing.

The privacy implications aren't theoretical. The European Commission has already opened investigations into potential DMA violations by multiple gatekeepers, and many of these cases involve data handling practices that blur the line between competition law and privacy protection.

How DMA Creates New Privacy Compliance Obligations

Let's be specific about what DMA actually changes for your privacy program. This isn't about replacing GDPR—it's about understanding how DMA creates additional obligations that layer on top of your existing privacy compliance.

Data Portability Beyond GDPR's Right to Data Portability

GDPR gives individuals the right to receive their personal data in a portable format. DMA goes further by requiring gatekeepers to provide continuous and real-time access to data generated through the use of core platform services.

What this means for your business: If you build applications or services that integrate with gatekeeper platforms, you might now have the ability to access user data that was previously locked within the platform's ecosystem. Your privacy policy needs to explain:

  • What data you can now access from gatekeeper platforms
  • How you obtain consent or establish another lawful basis for processing this data
  • What you do with data received through DMA-mandated portability
  • How users can control these new data flows

I've seen businesses assume that because DMA requires gatekeepers to provide the data, they don't need separate consent to receive it. That's wrong. Your lawful basis for processing data doesn't disappear just because DMA makes the data accessible—you still need to comply with GDPR's processing requirements.

Interoperability Requirements and Data Sharing Transparency

DMA requires gatekeepers to make their services interoperable with third-party services in specific circumstances. This creates new data sharing relationships that must be disclosed in your privacy documentation.

For example, if you operate a messaging service that now interoperates with WhatsApp due to DMA requirements, you need to explain:

  • That interoperability exists and what data is shared
  • How messages and metadata flow between the services
  • Whether the gatekeeper retains any data about these interactions
  • What security measures protect data during interoperation

The challenge here is timing. As gatekeepers implement interoperability features throughout 2025 and beyond, your privacy documentation needs to evolve in parallel. Static privacy policies quickly become outdated—and technically non-compliant—as these new data flows are established.

Business User Data Access and Disclosure Requirements

If you advertise on gatekeeper platforms or sell through their marketplaces, DMA gives you new rights to access data about your own business performance and customer interactions. But with these rights come disclosure obligations.

Your privacy policy should address:

  • What data you receive from gatekeeper platforms about customer behavior
  • How you use this data for business analytics and optimization
  • Whether you combine this data with other sources
  • How long you retain data received from gatekeepers

This is particularly important for e-commerce businesses. If you sell on Amazon Marketplace, for instance, DMA gives you enhanced access to customer analytics data. But your privacy policy needs to explain that you're receiving this data, what you do with it, and how it's protected.

Which Businesses Are Actually Affected by DMA's Privacy Provisions?

Here's where businesses make their biggest mistake: assuming DMA only matters if you're a designated gatekeeper. That's like assuming GDPR only matters if you're Facebook—it misses the entire point of how data flows through interconnected digital services.

Direct Integration Partners

If your service integrates directly with any gatekeeper platform, you're affected. This includes:

Authentication and identity services: Using Google or Apple sign-in means you're participating in identity data flows that DMA regulates.

Payment processing: Integrating with Apple Pay or Google Pay creates data sharing relationships covered by DMA requirements.

Advertising services: Running ads through Google Ads, Meta Ads, or Microsoft Advertising means you're receiving and processing data that gatekeepers are required to provide under DMA.

App distribution: If your app is distributed through the App Store or Google Play, you're subject to DMA's data access and portability requirements.

Marketplace Sellers and Platform-Dependent Businesses

If your business depends on a gatekeeper platform for customer access, you're affected even if there's no technical integration. This includes:

  • Sellers on Amazon Marketplace
  • Businesses using Facebook Marketplace
  • Hotels and restaurants listed on Google Maps
  • Content creators on YouTube

DMA gives you enhanced rights to access data about your customers and performance metrics. But these rights create corresponding obligations to explain in your privacy documentation how you use this newly accessible data.

Businesses in Adjacent Digital Markets

Even if you don't directly integrate with gatekeepers, DMA affects you if you operate in markets where gatekeepers have influence. For example:

Alternative app stores: If you distribute apps through alternative stores (which DMA encourages), you need to explain how data portability affects user information.

Competing search engines: If you operate a search service competing with Google, DMA's data access provisions might give you new sources of data that must be disclosed.

Interoperable messaging services: If you run a messaging service that will interoperate with WhatsApp or Messenger, your privacy practices must account for cross-platform data flows.

The key principle: If gatekeepers are required to share data with you, you're obligated to disclose how you handle that data.

Specific Privacy Documentation Changes Required by DMA

Let me get practical. Here's exactly what needs to change in your privacy documentation to address DMA compliance.

Privacy Policy Additions

Your privacy policy needs new sections or modifications to existing sections that cover:

Data received from gatekeeper platforms: A clear explanation of what data you receive as a result of DMA's data access, portability, and interoperability requirements.

Purpose and lawful basis for processing gatekeeper data: Don't assume that because DMA requires gatekeepers to provide the data, you automatically have a lawful basis to process it. You need to establish your own GDPR-compliant basis.

Data retention for gatekeeper-sourced data: Specify how long you keep data received through DMA-mandated sharing, which might differ from retention periods for data collected directly.

Third-party data sharing related to interoperability: If your service interoperates with gatekeeper services, explain what data is shared back and forth.

User rights related to gatekeeper data: Explain how users can exercise their GDPR rights (access, deletion, rectification) for data that originates from gatekeeper platforms but is now in your control.

I've reviewed hundreds of privacy policies since DMA took effect, and I can tell you that most businesses haven't made these additions. That's a compliance gap that's only going to get more visible as enforcement intensifies.

Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) with Gatekeepers

If you're receiving data from gatekeepers under DMA provisions, you need to understand your data processing relationship. In many cases, you'll be an independent controller of the data you receive—but not always.

Your DPAs should clarify:

  • Whether you're acting as a controller or processor for specific data types
  • What processing activities are permitted under the agreement
  • Security requirements for data received from the gatekeeper
  • Incident notification procedures if you experience a breach involving gatekeeper-sourced data

This is where many businesses discover uncomfortable truths. The gatekeeper might provide data under DMA requirements, but they don't necessarily provide the contractual protections you need to process that data safely from a compliance perspective.

Records of Processing Activities (ROPA) Updates

Your GDPR Article 30 records need to document processing activities that involve data received through DMA-mandated sharing. For each data flow, your ROPA should include:

  • The category of data received
  • The gatekeeper platform as the source
  • Your purpose for processing
  • The lawful basis under GDPR
  • Any third parties with whom you share the data
  • Retention periods
  • Security measures

If you haven't updated your ROPA to reflect DMA-related data flows, you're creating a documentation gap that regulators will notice during audits. Learn more about maintaining compliant records in our guide to GDPR Article 30 Records of Processing Activities.

Consent Mechanisms for New Data Flows

If you're relying on consent as your lawful basis for processing data received through DMA provisions, your consent mechanisms need to be updated to:

  • Clearly explain the new data source (the gatekeeper platform)
  • Specify what data you're receiving and why
  • Provide granular control over different types of data processing
  • Allow users to withdraw consent easily

Remember: Valid GDPR consent requires informed, specific, and freely given agreement. Generic consent language won't cut it when you're introducing new data flows enabled by DMA. For a deeper dive into consent requirements, check out our comprehensive guide on GDPR Consent Requirements.

DMA and GDPR: How the Regulations Interact

One of the most common questions I get is: "Does DMA override GDPR?" The short answer is no—absolutely not. DMA and GDPR are complementary regulations that address different aspects of digital business practices.

Here's how they interact in practice:

DMA Creates Data Access, GDPR Governs How You Use It

DMA might give you the right to access data from a gatekeeper platform, but GDPR determines whether you can legally process that data, for what purposes, and under what conditions.

Think of it this way: DMA opens the door to new data sources, but you still need a GDPR-compliant key to walk through that door. Just because a gatekeeper is required to provide data doesn't mean you automatically have permission to use it.

Competition Requirements Don't Trump Privacy Protections

DMA is designed to increase competition, but European regulators have been clear that competition objectives can't override fundamental privacy rights. If implementing DMA-required interoperability would create unacceptable privacy risks, those risks must be mitigated first.

This creates interesting tensions. For example, mandatory interoperability between messaging services raises questions about end-to-end encryption, message metadata, and user privacy preferences. Gatekeepers can't simply say "DMA made us do it" if their interoperability implementation violates GDPR.

Both Regulations Share Common Enforcement

While DMA is enforced by the European Commission (not national data protection authorities), coordination between competition enforcers and privacy regulators is increasing. Violations that implicate both DMA and GDPR can trigger parallel investigations and compounding penalties.

We're already seeing this in practice. Recent investigations into gatekeeper data practices examine both competitive concerns (under DMA) and privacy violations (under GDPR) simultaneously.

Documentation Must Address Both Frameworks

Your privacy documentation can't treat DMA and GDPR as separate silos. They need to work together. When you explain data flows enabled by DMA, you must also explain:

  • The GDPR lawful basis for that processing
  • How the processing aligns with data minimization principles
  • What security measures protect the data
  • How users can exercise their GDPR rights

This integrated approach prevents the dangerous trap of thinking DMA requirements somehow excuse you from GDPR compliance.

Practical Implementation: Your 60-Day DMA Privacy Compliance Plan

If you've read this far and realized your business needs to address DMA in your privacy program, here's your practical implementation roadmap.

Days 1-15: Assessment and Gap Analysis

Week 1: Identify your gatekeeper relationships

  • List all platforms, services, and marketplaces where your business integrates with or depends on designated gatekeepers
  • Document specific data flows (what data comes from gatekeepers, what you send back)
  • Identify which DMA provisions apply to your business model

Week 2: Review current documentation

  • Audit your privacy policy for mentions of gatekeeper data sharing
  • Review your DPAs with gatekeepers for DMA-related terms
  • Check your ROPA for completeness regarding gatekeeper data flows
  • Assess consent mechanisms for adequacy

Create a gap analysis document that lists every discrepancy between what your documentation currently says and what it needs to say to address DMA compliance.

Days 16-30: Documentation Updates

Week 3: Privacy policy revisions

  • Draft new sections or modify existing sections to address DMA-enabled data flows
  • Ensure GDPR lawful bases are clearly stated for all gatekeeper data processing
  • Add specific examples that help users understand the practical impact
  • Update your data retention and security disclosures

Week 4: Supporting documentation

  • Update your ROPA to include DMA-related processing activities
  • Revise consent forms to address new data sources
  • Create internal guidelines for employees on handling gatekeeper data
  • Draft or update DPAs with gatekeepers

If this sounds overwhelming, you're not alone. Most businesses discover that creating privacy documentation that accurately reflects complex data relationships—especially emerging ones like DMA-mandated sharing—is far more complicated than they expected. That's exactly why we built PrivacyForge to automate this process based on your actual business practices.

Days 31-45: Legal and Technical Implementation

Week 5: Legal review

  • Have your legal team (or external counsel) review updated documentation
  • Verify that your GDPR lawful bases are properly established
  • Ensure your consent mechanisms meet validity requirements
  • Confirm that your documentation accurately reflects technical reality

Week 6: Technical alignment

  • Implement any necessary consent collection mechanisms
  • Configure data retention policies to match documentation
  • Set up data deletion procedures for gatekeeper-sourced data
  • Establish incident response procedures for DMA-related data

The goal here is to ensure your systems actually do what your documentation says they do. Documentation-reality gaps are one of the most common compliance failures I see.

Days 46-60: Training and Monitoring

Week 7: Internal training

  • Educate your team on DMA requirements and how they impact daily operations
  • Train customer support staff to answer questions about gatekeeper data flows
  • Ensure technical teams understand data minimization requirements for gatekeeper data
  • Establish escalation procedures for DMA-related privacy questions

Week 8: Ongoing monitoring

  • Set up a process to monitor new DMA designations and requirement updates
  • Create a review schedule for privacy documentation (quarterly recommended)
  • Establish metrics to track compliance with DMA-related privacy obligations
  • Prepare for potential regulatory inquiries

For more on building effective privacy training programs, see our guide on Privacy Training Programs: Building a Privacy-Capable Workforce.

Common DMA Privacy Compliance Mistakes to Avoid

After helping numerous businesses navigate DMA's privacy implications, I've seen the same mistakes repeatedly. Here's what to avoid.

Mistake #1: Assuming DMA Doesn't Apply to Small Businesses

The biggest misconception is that DMA is "just for Big Tech." While only large platforms are designated as gatekeepers, thousands of businesses interact with these gatekeepers in ways that trigger DMA's privacy implications.

If you integrate with Google's authentication, advertise on Meta's platforms, or sell on Amazon's marketplace, DMA affects your privacy compliance—regardless of your company size.

Mistake #2: Treating DMA as a GDPR Exemption

Some businesses assume that because DMA requires gatekeepers to share data, they don't need separate GDPR compliance for that data. This is dangerously wrong.

DMA creates competition-based obligations for gatekeepers, but it doesn't override GDPR's requirements for how you process personal data. You still need a lawful basis, you still need to minimize data collection, and you still need to protect individuals' rights.

Mistake #3: Using Generic Template Language

I've seen businesses try to address DMA by adding a generic paragraph like "We may receive data from third-party platforms." That's not compliance—it's checkbox theater.

Your privacy policy needs to specifically explain:

  • Which gatekeeper platforms you interact with
  • What data you receive through DMA-mandated sharing
  • Why you need this data and what you do with it
  • How users can control these data flows

Specificity isn't optional—it's a GDPR transparency requirement. For more on why generic templates fail, read our analysis of Privacy Policy Templates and Industry-Specific Requirements.

Mistake #4: Ignoring Interoperability Timelines

DMA's interoperability requirements are being implemented in phases throughout 2025 and beyond. Many businesses plan to "deal with it when it happens," which guarantees they'll be scrambling to update documentation after new data flows are already active.

The better approach: Monitor the European Commission's interoperability decisions and update your documentation proactively. Your privacy policy should be accurate before data starts flowing, not after.

Mistake #5: Failing to Update Vendor Risk Assessments

If you receive data from gatekeeper platforms, those gatekeepers are now part of your data supply chain. Your vendor risk assessment process needs to evaluate:

  • The gatekeeper's data security practices
  • Contractual protections for data they provide
  • Incident response procedures
  • Compliance with their own DMA obligations

A gatekeeper's failure to properly implement DMA requirements could expose you to compliance risk if you're processing data they shouldn't have provided. Learn more about effective vendor evaluation in our guide to Vendor Risk Assessment: Third-Party Privacy Evaluation Framework.

The Future of DMA Privacy Compliance: What's Coming Next

DMA is still in its early enforcement phase, and the privacy landscape it creates will continue evolving. Here's what to watch for.

Expanded Gatekeeper Designations

The European Commission reviews gatekeeper designations regularly. As new platforms reach the quantitative thresholds (users, market capitalization, business users), they'll be designated—creating new data flows and documentation requirements for businesses that integrate with them.

Expected designations in late 2025 and 2026 include additional services from current gatekeepers and potentially new companies entering the gatekeeper category. Each new designation creates a documentation update trigger for affected businesses.

Refined Interoperability Requirements

The Commission is developing detailed interoperability specifications for messaging services, social networks, and other core platform services. As these specifications are finalized, businesses operating interoperable services will need to update their privacy documentation to reflect the specific data flows enabled.

This is an area where proactive monitoring pays dividends. Waiting until interoperability goes live means your privacy policy will be outdated the moment users start benefiting from cross-platform features.

Enforcement Actions and Guidance

We're already seeing the first wave of DMA enforcement actions, and many involve data handling practices. As the Commission issues decisions and guidance, patterns will emerge that clarify how DMA's privacy-related provisions should be interpreted.

Smart businesses treat enforcement actions—even those targeting other companies—as valuable guidance for their own compliance programs. If the Commission flags a specific practice as problematic, that's your signal to review whether you engage in similar practices.

Integration with AI Act and Data Governance Act

The EU's regulatory framework for digital services includes DMA, GDPR, the AI Act, and the Data Governance Act. These regulations are designed to work together, creating an integrated compliance framework.

As these regulations mature, businesses will need privacy documentation that addresses their interactions holistically. A privacy policy that treats each regulation in isolation misses crucial connections and creates explanation gaps that confuse users.

Why DMA Privacy Compliance Is a Strategic Opportunity, Not Just a Burden

Let me end with a perspective shift that helps businesses approach DMA compliance more strategically.

DMA is fundamentally about opening digital markets and reducing dependency on dominant platforms. For businesses that embrace this shift, DMA creates opportunities:

Reduced platform dependency: DMA's data portability and access provisions give you more control over your customer relationships and business data, reducing your strategic dependence on gatekeepers.

Competitive differentiation: By transparently explaining how you handle data received through DMA provisions and by giving users control over these flows, you can differentiate your service based on privacy respect.

Better customer relationships: DMA-enabled data access gives you new insights into customer behavior and preferences—insights that were previously locked inside platform ecosystems. Used responsibly, these insights strengthen customer relationships.

The key is approaching DMA privacy compliance not as grudging checkbox exercise but as part of a broader strategy to build a sustainable, privacy-respecting business that doesn't live or die based on platform gatekeepers' whims.

Privacy compliance becomes a competitive advantage when you stop thinking of it as a constraint and start seeing it as a differentiator. For more on this strategic perspective, read our analysis of Privacy as a Competitive Advantage.

Take Action: Get Your DMA-Compliant Privacy Documentation Today

If you've made it this far, you understand that DMA creates real privacy compliance obligations that require specific documentation updates. The question now is implementation: How do you actually create privacy policies and supporting documentation that accurately reflect the complex data flows DMA enables?

Most businesses face a choice:

Option 1: Hire expensive privacy lawyers to draft custom documentation (typical cost: $5,000-$15,000, timeline: 4-8 weeks).

Option 2: Use generic templates that don't address your specific DMA relationships (cost: free to $200, value: minimal, risk: high).

Option 3: Leverage AI-powered documentation generation that understands the complexity of DMA-GDPR interactions and creates specific, accurate privacy policies based on your actual business practices.

That third option is what we built PrivacyForge to deliver.

Our platform analyzes your business model, your integrations with gatekeeper platforms, and your specific data flows to generate privacy documentation that:

  • Accurately describes how you receive and process data through DMA-mandated sharing
  • Establishes proper GDPR lawful bases for all processing activities
  • Provides the specificity and transparency that regulators expect
  • Updates automatically as your business practices evolve

We've helped hundreds of businesses navigate the complex intersection of competition regulation and privacy compliance. We understand that DMA isn't just about Big Tech—it's about the entire ecosystem of businesses that interact with digital platforms.

Ready to get DMA-compliant privacy documentation without the lawyer bills or generic template risks? Start generating your custom privacy policy now and see how PrivacyForge handles the complexity for you.

The Digital Markets Act is reshaping how data flows through the digital economy. Your privacy documentation needs to keep pace with these changes—not months from now, but today. Let us handle the complexity so you can focus on building your business with confidence that your privacy compliance evolves alongside regulatory requirements.