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ARTICLE · 10 DECEMBER 2018

GDPR Fines - Lessons From Competition Law

Mayer Brown
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Although the EU General Data Protection Regulation entered into force on 25 May 2018, and the obligations under the GDPR have since taken effect, there remain significant uncertainties as regards enforcement.

European UnionPrivacy
Oliver Yaros
Oliver Yaros
Warsha Kalé
Warsha Kalé
James Harrison
James Harrison
Ryota Nishikawa
Ryota Nishikawa
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 Although the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR")1 entered into force on 25 May 2018, and the obligations under the GDPR have since taken effect, there remain significant uncertainties as regards enforcement. In particular, the application of the GDPR's fining provisions – arguably the key concern for companies commercially – raises several issues, both in terms of the interpretation of the relevant GDPR provisions, and their operation in practice.

This article seeks to shed some light on the potential reach of the GDPR fining provisions within corporate group structures and other commercial arrangements by exploring relevant EU competition law principles and policy considerations. By understanding how related concepts under EU competition law have been interpreted and applied in practice, it is possible to postulate how these may be deployed within the GDPR context.

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