The EU's data watchdog, the European Data Protection
Supervisor (EDPS), recently published his views in a report on "the interplay between data
protection, competition law and consumer protection in the digital
economy". His basic thesis is something that has been
self-evident, and much commented upon, big data is an issue EU
regulators need to work on together to manage and to deal with its
impact on consumers. He said:
"The evolution of big data has exposed gaps in EU
competition, consumer protection and data protection policies that
do not seem to have kept up with this development. Smarter
interaction across these partially overlapping policy areas will
support growth and innovation and minimise the potential harm to
consumers. The EDPS is pleased to be facilitating discussions
between regulators and experts in these fields."