The presentation discusses the intersection of data protection and competition, emphasizing the significance of personal data rights and its economic impact. It outlines how data protection authorities (DPAs) can prioritize and enforce data privacy laws to foster competitive outcomes while balancing market power and consumer rights. The presentation also highlights the need for transparency and interoperability in data handling as essential for effective advocacy in data privacy.

1. How do Data Protection Authorities think
about personal data and competition?
Presentation for OECD roundtable on the intersection between competition
and data privacy
Tim Capel, Legal Director, UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
13 June 2024
The views expressed in this presentation are my own and do not necessarily reflect the position of the ICO

2. How DPAs think about personal data – a rights perspective
• Safeguarding liberty – privacy as the “right to be let alone”
• Human dignity and autonomy – privacy and data protection as
fundamental human rights
• Data privacy legal framework – principles for lawful processing,
rights for individuals, obligations to ensure accountability
• Free movement of personal data and international trade
• Right to data protection “not an absolute right”
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3. Towards a more economic approach
• From regulating databases and filing systems to becoming a “law
of everything” in the digital economy?
• Understanding the economic importance of personal data and
data driven business models
• DPAs’ role in promoting economic growth and innovation
• Consumers as individuals – “personal data cannot be considered
as a tradeable commodity” (EDPB, Opinion 08/2024)
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4. How should DPAs think about competition?
• Strategic prioritisation and enforcement of data privacy law to
support competitive outcomes
• Market power and freely given consent – Case-252/21 Meta
Platforms v Bundeskartellamt
• The right to data portability and promotion of interoperability
• Transparency and harmful design
• Understanding markets and competitive dynamics to be effective
advocates for data privacy
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