‘Collecting personal data may violate competition rules’

According to European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, a small number of companies may be acting in violation of competition rules because they collect personal data on a large scale. The approach would make it possible to push smaller parties out of the market.

The New York Times reports that the warning, issued by Vestager at the DLD conference in Munich, is mainly addressed to companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google. Vestager believes that consumers often do not know how much data they are revealing when using online communication services. It adds that the use of this personal data should not be free; it would be a business transaction. Consumers should therefore be treated fairly.

“If only a few companies have all the data they need to cut costs, you give them the opportunity to push others out of the market,” said Vestager. This behavior would be contrary to the competition rules, because it would abuse a dominant position. Vestager further stated that ‘a strong market position does not correspond to having a lot of data’ and that the European Commission should check ‘whether competitors can obtain equally good data’.

The protection of personal data of EU citizens continues to be at the center of attention, as the US and the EU must agree on a new protection regime before the end of this month. They must make new arrangements for the export of personal data, now that the Safe Harbor rules no longer apply. The site Politico reports that this probably will not work. This is problematic, because European privacy regulators will start enforcement from February, which can have major consequences for companies. According to the American and European companies, there could even be ‘enormous consequences’ if the deadline is not met. After all, all data transfers would be at risk, which could have consequences for financial transactions.