Data Privacy can take the form of non-price competition: CCI

Data Privacy can take the form of non-price competition: CCI

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Cyber Security 

In news

• A study by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has said that the Data privacy can take the form of non-price competition and abuse of dominance can lower privacy protection, 

Key takeaways 

• CCI noted that an aspect of data in the context of competition in digital communications market is the conflict between allowing access and protecting consumer privacy.
• Abuse of dominance can take the form of lowering the privacy protection and therefore fall within the ambit of antitrust as low privacy standard implies lack of consumer welfare.
• The study also made observations about other non-price factors such as quality of service (QoS), data speeds and bundled offerings, which are likely to be the new drivers of competitive rivalry between service providers in telecom sector in addition to just price.

Important value additions 

Competition Commission of India (CCI) 

• It is a statutory body of the Government of India. 
• It is responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India.
• It prevents activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. 
• It was established on 14 October 2003 and became fully functional in May 2009. 
• CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government. 
• It is the duty of the Commission to:
  • eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, 
  • promote and sustain competition,
  • protect the interests of consumers, 
  • ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.