Gene

Consumer protection

Ecology

Law and economics

Biology

Microeconomics

Enforcement

Digital economy

Computer security

Commerce

Data Protection Act 1998

Economics

Market economy

Biochemistry

Computer science

Monopoly

Business

Internet privacy

Competition (biology)

Dominance (genetics)

Law enforcement

Bridging (networking)

Political science

Chemistry

Competition law

International Data Privacy Law

... Recent years have shown a surge of interest from various enforcement agencies to remedy commercial behaviour exploiting the increasing information and power asymmetries between consumers and firms. What is particularly notable about this rise in attention is that enforcement actions demonstrate clear interactions between different legal fields that are traditionally applied and enforced in isolation. The present article will focus in particular on the growing interaction between competition, data protection, and consumer law. The Italian Competition, Communications and Data Protection Authority opened a joint 'big data' sector inquiry in May 2017 that not only aims to identify potential competition concerns but also to define 'a regulatory framework able to foster competition in the markets of the digital economy, to protect privacy and consumers, and to promote pluralism within the digital ecosystem'.1 The Bundeskartellamt (German competition authority) announced its preliminary assessment in the Facebook competition investigation in December 2017, reaching the view that Facebook's collection and use of data from third-party sources is abusive. According to the Bundeskartellamt, Facebook's terms of service violate data protection provisions and thereby constitute abuse of dominance under competition law as well.2 On the basis of its new competence in the area of consumer protection,3 the Bundeskartellamt also opened two sector inquiries into online price comparison websites and smart TVs in October and December 2017, respectively. The sector inquiry into comparison websites aims to uncover possible violations of consumer law and to identify possible deficits in the enforcement of consumer rights that so far mainly takes place in individual private court proceedings.4 The sector inquiry into smart TVs investigates how producers of smart TVs handle user data. In particular, the Bundeskartellamt is looking to clarify to what extent smart TV manufacturers collect, use and pass on personal data, and whether individuals are appropriately informed of these practices in the contract terms.5

Fairness and enforcement: bridging competition, data protection, and consumer law