Data Protection And Competition Law: Developments And The Way Forward

In the last decade the digital sector has witnessed tremendous growth in India and worldwide. While this growth has given rise to new business models, opened up new markets, and unlocked significant efficiencies, it has also raised concerns that tech giants may use the excessive amounts of user data they hold, to influence digital markets to their advantage.

In this background, the Competition Commission of India (the "CCI") has initiated investigations into several players such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Google. However, there are also apprehensions regarding the use of competition law (instead of privacy and consumer legislations) to address such concerns.

This note provides a brief overview of the existing legal framework on data privacy in India, analyses the CCI's decisional practice in this regard, and suggests an appropriate way forward for the CCI on this matter.