With the development of the digital economy, data has assumed an increasingly important role for online platforms and the majority of digital business models, often becoming central to competition and the conduct of actors in digital markets. At the same time, there has been an increase in data privacy regulations and enforcement worldwide.
The interplay between competition and data privacy has prompted questions about whether data privacy and the collection of consumers’ data constitute an antitrust issue, whether competition considerations should be factored into decisions by data privacy regulators, and, if so, how synergies can be enhanced between the two policy areas and the points of tension overcome.
In June 2024, the OECD Competition Committee and the OECD Working Party on Data Governance and Privacy held a joint roundtable to explore the links between competition and data privacy, their respective objectives, and how considerations pertaining to one policy area have been, or could be, included into the other. The discussion also investigate enforcement interventions and regulatory measures that could foster synergies or lead to potential challenges, and offered insights on models for co-operation between competition and data privacy regulators.
