Dr. Vellah Kedogo Kigwiru Research fellow Hochschule fur Politik Technical University of Munich Germany

By Ayubu John photo journalist Afrimedia Group news 

Dr. Vellah Kedogo Kigwiru begins with a question that is increasingly important in today's digital world: When does a data protection issue become a competition law issue?

For many years, privacy and data protection were treated as separate legal matters. If a company mishandled personal data, it was the responsibility of data protection authorities to investigate. Competition authorities focused on market power, monopolies, and unfair business practices. The two fields rarely overlapped.

This changed dramatically in 2019.

In Germany, the competition authority known as the Bundeskartellamt examined the practices of Facebook, now part of Meta. Facebook required users to agree to the collection and combination of data from Facebook itself and from third-party websites if they wanted to use the platform. The authority argued that because Facebook held a dominant market position, this requirement was not simply a privacy issue. It was also an abuse of market power.

The decision marked a turning point. For the first time, a competition authority treated a data protection issue as a competition concern. Since then, regulators in countries such as Nigeria, Brazil, Chile, and India have begun exploring similar approaches.

However, Dr. Kigwiru warns that competition authorities should not become substitute data protection agencies. Determining whether a data breach has occurred remains the responsibility of privacy regulators. Competition authorities should focus on whether a data practice creates competition problems.

To understand this distinction, one must first understand consent. Under European data protection rules, consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Yet in the digital economy, genuine choice is often difficult. Users may feel compelled to accept terms because refusing means losing access to essential services. Strong network effects make switching platforms difficult. People remain on services like WhatsApp because their friends, families, and businesses are already there.

The presentation argues that data has become the new source of power in digital markets. Platforms collect vast amounts of information, control access to it, and use it to strengthen their positions. Data creates what Dr. Kigwiru calls "data power," which can translate into market power, gatekeeping power, and intermediary power.

Large digital ecosystems illustrate this phenomenon. Meta operates Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other interconnected services. Data gathered in one service can enhance the value and influence of another. As a result, companies can expand their dominance across multiple markets.

According to Dr. Kigwiru, competition intervention becomes justified when data practices lead to exclusionary or exploitative conduct. Exclusionary conduct occurs when access to data creates barriers that prevent competitors from entering the market. Exploitative conduct occurs when users face unfair terms, excessive data collection, or conditions imposed because they lack meaningful alternatives.

Yet significant challenges remain. Unlike traditional competition cases involving prices, it is difficult to determine when data collection becomes excessive. Regulators must also demonstrate actual competition harm and prove a causal link between the conduct and the harm suffered by consumers or competitors.

Network effects further complicate the picture. Digital platforms become more valuable as more users join them. This creates lock-in effects that discourage users from moving elsewhere and make it harder for new competitors to emerge.

Dr. Kigwiru concludes that not every privacy issue is a competition issue. A data protection concern becomes a competition law concern only when it strengthens market power, restricts competition, reduces consumer choice, creates barriers to entry, or allows dominant firms to exploit users through unfair data practices.

In the digital economy, data is no longer merely information. It has become a strategic asset capable of shaping competition itself. The challenge for regulators is to identify the point at which privacy concerns transform into competition concerns while maintaining clear boundaries between the two fields of law.