Aligning remedies in abuse of dominance cases with data protection principles

In today’s digital markets, data is increasingly a source of market power. The link between market power and data brings together elements of competition law, which regulates market power, and data protection regulation, which seeks to ensure the fair, lawful and transparent processing of personal data. This paper argues that when tackling anticompetitive data practices by dominant market players, data protection elements should be incorporated into the design of competition law remedies. This paper was written by Alessia D’Amico, PhD student at the European University Institute, during her placement at, and in collaboration with, Privacy International.

Key findings

The remedies considered in the paper are the following:
•    Requirements that facilitate and increase the utility of data-portability.
•    A requirement for data-interoperability, tailored to the characteristics of the services provided.
•    Limitations on data collection and processing, including the length of storage, collection purposes, sharing and monetisation.
•    Tailored requirement for valid consent, e.g. allowing for the possibility to fine-tune privacy settings, more explicit and active consent, confirmation of consent after a period of time, ensuring that consent is freely given.  
•    Tailored requirements for transparency, including information about the monetisation of the data collected.

Long Read
Photo by BP Miller on Unsplash

Photo by BP Miller on Unsplash