MOVE TO REGULATE BIG DATA COMPETITION: EU READY TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP.

Abstract

This article attempts to identify the new direction in which the European competition regulators are headed. The German cartel office, ‘Bundeskartellamt’s’ scrutiny of the Facebook privacy policy and their earlier collaboration with the French antitrust authority to issue a joint report on Big Data signals a new initiative. At the EU level, collaboration with the European Data Protection Officers is being witnessed to regulate the Big Data players in a better manner. While it is still not feasible to say that the EU Competition Commission is going to begin enforcing data protection laws, it is moving in a direction to ensure that in its decisions it will not turn a blind eye to the objectives of ensuring privacy while pursuing its main objective of enforcing European Competition Law. The article capitulates the recent developments in this regard by the National Competition Authorities in the European Union, hereinafter "EU" and the signaling of new EU rules which may facilitate the Competition Authorities to regulate the companies which collect and hold consumer data.