TEST6Nicholas Economides, Stern School of Business at NYU, and his co-author Ioannis Lianos, University College London and Hellenic Competition Commission, examine the collection of personal information from online platforms, such as Google and Facebook, from an antitrust perspective.
In “
Restrictions on Privacy and Exploitation in the Digital Economy: A Competition Law Perspective,” Professors Economides and Lianos explore a
market failure approach in thinking about restrictions to competition by digital platforms affecting privacy. Additionally, they consider the possibilities of enforcing competition law against these types of restrictions.
The Market Failure Approach
Many online platform companies –Google and Facebook are examined in Professors Economides and Lianos’ article—utilize a
requirement provision in the boiler plate contract with their users that allows the company to collect personal information from each user without compensation. In exchange, the user has access to the services provided by these companies. However, users have no option other than to allow access to their personal data if they want to use the services offered.