Chillin'Competition

In some previous posts we’ve commented on the interface between the competition rules and data protection/privacy regulation, which is one of the trendiest topics in international antitrust these days.

As you may recall, the European Data Protection Supervisor recently held a high level workshop (high level but for my intervention on it, that is) on Privacy, Competition, Consumers and Big Data. On Monday, the EDPS made available on its website a report summarizing what was discussed in the workshop (conducted under Chatham House rules). The EDPS’ summary is available here:  EDPS Report_Privacy, competition, consumers and big data.

A summary of my intervention at the workshop was published in two recent posts (here and here).

For more, you can re-read Orla Lynskey’s A Brave New World: The Potential Intersection of Competition Law and Data Protection Regulation as well as the interesting comment by Angela Daly on my latest post on the issue.

The German Monopolkommission has also addedd its voice to the debate by issuing a recent report (“A competitive order for the financial markets“) which contains a section on data-related questions regarding the internet economy. The Press Release (in English here) expressess some concerns but notes that, according to the report, “an extension of the competition policy toolkit does not (yet) seem advisable on the basis of current knowledge and understanding“.