While digital devices are a ubiquitous reality in all aspects of life, control over the hardware and software running on them is increasingly being limited by internet platforms, digital services providers, hardware manufacturers, and vendors. Several policy and legal concepts have been developed by the academic sector in cooperation with regulatory bodies and courts to tackle this issue in the EU.

The whole debate boiled down to principles that have been included in the EU's major overhaul of internet law: the Digital Markets Act. Device neutrality is a policy term that translates as non-discrimination of services and apps by providers, manufacturers, and vendors. The objective of device neutrality is to enable consumers to bypass gatekeepers and enable a fair and non-discriminatory use of Free Software.

The talk will explain the four main demands the FSFE has been leveraging in the public debates and legislative processes: * Strict end-user consent for pre-installed apps; * No vendor lock-in; * Interoperability of services based on Open Standards * Real-time data portability