Addressing Privacy Violations and Competition Law Through Integration and Separation: Can We Achieve a Nexus?

This chapter explores the intricate relationship between competition law and data privacy, emphasising the potential for Article 102 TFEU to address privacy-related infringements as a source of competitive harm. It critiques the GDPR for failing to address the long-term impacts of personal data acquisition on market power and competitive harm. By recognising the aggregation of personal data as market power, competition law could address harmful practices by dominant firms. However, offering more privacy-oriented terms could also raise competition law concerns. The chapter advocates for a coherent but separate enforcement approach to competition and data privacy laws, maintaining their analytical independence to ensure predictability. The concept of the “privacy-trap theorem” is introduced, suggesting that privacy infringements can trigger competition law assessments when they impact competition. It concludes by discussing a risk-based approach to integrating privacy considerations into competition law, acknowledging the limitations and implementation challenges in addressing privacy-related harms within the competition law framework.