IJE/IBJ Deep Dive - Big Data and Competition Rules: Competition Aspects of Collecting and Using (Big) Data

How can you collect and use big data without running into trouble? The collection and commercial use of data is no longer merely a GDPR issue. It also raises questions in terms of competition law rules.

Competition authorities across Europe are increasingly scrutinizing the use of data, as can be seen from recent studies by French, German and Dutch competition watchdogs. In September 2018 the EU Commission opened an investigation into Amazon and its use of data related to transactions with online retailers using Amazon’s e-commerce platform (Amazon Marketplace). Likewise, the German competition authority is currently investigating some of Facebook’s practices.

In this Deep Dive, we will run through the entire life cycle of a big data set and examine it from a competition law angle. We will cover among others the following subjects:

• The application of competition law rules to the collection and exchange of data (including the collection and exchange of so-called “competitive intelligence” on pricing, products and competitors’ clients).
• The interplay between privacy rules and competition law.
• Big data as a source of market power.
• Are existing competition law instruments adequate to analyse “free” services that are in fact “paid for” by users’ provision of their data?