Impact of Data Protection and Privacy on Regulating Competition and Consumer Protection for Digital Markets within CSME

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Leading competition authorities across the world have attempted in recent years to understand how companies operating within the digital space can use data to their competitive advantage and how this can distort competition and cause consumer detriment, but also how data protection laws themselves affect competition in digital markets.2 However, although the digital economy in the CSME is growing, there have been no similar attempts to understand these issues in the region.

The study approaches this issue from two perspectives. First, it provides an up-to-date overview of the international developments in this area and benchmarks the current CSME legislative framework against these international precedents. Second, the study also collects and presents baseline information on data protection and privacy in the region, to determine whether the legislative and regulatory frameworks in CSME member countries can address modern competition, consumer protection and international trade concerns.

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The increasing ubiquity of digital technologies that use and produce data on a vast scale has garnered much attention from policy-makers, regulators and competition authorities across the world. The interplay between data, consumer protection, competition, and trade in the market for digital technologies has given rise to ongoing debates on the legislation, initiatives and new approaches to regulating digital markets and enforcing existing consumer protection and competition rules.


This study, which was commissioned by the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Competition Commission (CCC) and funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat, presents baseline information collected on data protection and privacy in the region to determine whether the legislative and regulatory frameworks in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) member countries can address modern competition, consumer protection and international trade concerns.

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