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ARTICLE · 02 NOVEMBER 2022

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Can A Competition Authority Assess A GDPR Breach?

William Fry LLP
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Data plays a huge role in many organisations' business models, so data processing issues are increasingly arising in the context of competition law investigations.

IrelandAntitrust/Competition Law
David Cullen
David Cullen
David Kirton
David Kirton
Cormac Little SC
Cormac Little SC
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Data plays a huge role in many organisations' business models, so data processing issues are increasingly arising in the context of competition law investigations. This leads to a growing overlap between the roles of competition authorities and data protection authorities.

Traditionally, these regulators operate in very different spaces and have very different regulatory functions. However, when investigating a breach of competition law, can a national competition authority (NCA) consider an alleged breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

A reference from the German courts to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Meta Platforms and Others v Bundeskartellamt (C-252/21) asks that very question.

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