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20 Competititon L.J. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/comptnlj20 and id is 1 raw text is: 1 Access to big data as a remedy in big tech Nick Dadson, lain Snoddy and Joshua White* 1. Introduction Recent technological advances have lowered the costs of collecting, storing and analysing large amounts of data. As a consequence, the amount of and use of data in the economy has exploded. Companies with internet- connected products can often directly collect informa_ tion on their customers, such as their usage patterns and GPS locations.' Machine learning algorithms have helped companies use data to tailor their products to individual customers, evaluate sales performance or monetize their user base by selling advertising. Other companies have directly monetized their data by selling them to other companies. As data have increased in relevance, 'big data' and 'big tech' have become central topics in recent antitrust debates, and tech companies have become a focus of * Nick Dadson is a Manager and lain Snoddy is an Associate at Analysis Group in Montreal, Canada. Joshua White is a Vice President at Analysis Group in London, UK. The views presented in this article are those of the authors and do not represent any opinions or positions of Analysis Group or its affiliated companies. The authors did not receive financial support for their work on this article. 1 A. Hagiu and J. Wright, 'When Data Creates Competitive Advantage', Harvard Business Review (January-February 2020). 2 C. Kang and D. McCabe, 'Lawmakers, United in Their Ire, Lash Out at Big Tech's Leaders', The New York Times (1 July 2020), available at: https:// www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/technology/big-tech-hearing-apple-amazon- facebook-google.html (accessed 10 February 2021). Journal compilation © 2021 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd regulators' and politicians' attention.2 For example, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published a report on online platforms and digital adver- tising in the UK (the 'CMA Report').3' 4 The CMA Report focused on Google and Facebook, and expressed concerns that the two platforms 'are now protected by such strong incumbency advantages - including network effects, economies of scale and unmatchable access to user data - that potential rivals can no longer compete on equal terms'.' The CMA Report both identified potential antitrust concerns and proposed various remedies to ameliorate the concerns it identified. In this article, we outline their proposed Google data access remedy whereby a new or set of already existing institutional bodies would be empowered to implement various regulatory functions. 3 Competition and Markets Authority, 'Online platforms and digital adver- tising market study', gov.uk (1 July 2020), available at: https://www.gov. uk/cma-cases/online-platforms-and-digital-advertising-market-study (accessed 10 February 2021). 4 Similarly, the European Commission's recently proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposes criteria for classifying online platforms as 'gate- keepers', as well as the obligations that designated gatekeepers should comply with. See European Commission, 'Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Contestable and Fair Mar- kets in the Digital Sector (Digital Markets Act)', EUR-Lex (15 December 2020), available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri= COM:2020:842:FIN (accessed 10 February 2021). 5 CMA Report, p 5. 10.4337/clj.2021.01.01

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