Privacy International’s submission to the European Commission consultation on ‘shaping competition policy in the era of digitisation’

Privacy International encourages the European Commission to consider ways to reform or at least re-interpret competition regulation to address the data protection implications and the broader societal challenges posed by the exploitation of data by big corporations. This includes, for example, systematic consideration of data protection issues (including though consultation with relevant data protection authorities and organisations protecting privacy and consumer rights) when assessing mergers and acquisitions and the ability for competition authorities to prohibit such mergers (and/or impose conditions) when they negatively affect the protection of personal data and the privacy of individuals.