The tension between data protection and European Union competition law

Abstract

The digital economy, which is characterised by the digitisation of production and the advent of digitised products, has to rely on the commercialisation of data and is challenging regulators across the globe. This data treatment brings many new challenges in terms of data privacy and protection of competition that need to be considered in several areas of law, particularly DP, consumer, privacy and competition law. Thus, personal data has become the object of trade in the digital economy, and companies compete to acquire and process these data. This competition is subject to the application of competition law. However, personal data are also protected through DP laws and the European Union Charter rights to data protection and privacy. This dissertation determines the relationship between these data protection and competition law frameworks. If data protection and competition law have different objectives, they have also interconnections. In this respect, this work acknowledges their distinct methods and aims, identifies their common grounds, and highlights current examples that have emerged to create a personal data-conscious competition policy. Furthermore, this dissertation argues that when the material scope of these legal frameworks overlap, competition law can incorporate data protection law as a normative factor when assessing non-price competition. Data protection can thus act as a constraint on competition law.