Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The limits of antitrust in privacy protection

2018; Oxford University Press; Volume: 8; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/idpl/ipy015

2044-4001

Eugene Kimmelman, Harold Feld, Agustín Rossi,

Copyright and Intellectual Property

In the 21st century, it has become virtually impossible to meaningfully participate in society without revealing our personal data. Many of the most necessary, entertaining, and useful internet services demand personal data that are then used for targeted advertisements as a condition of use. Service providers follow us around the Internet and across devices to show us ads and to collect more data. Credit rating agencies and financial institutions determine our access to mortgages and car loans based on the data they relentlessly collect from as many sources as possible. And even supermarkets indefinitely collect and store our payment and delivery information and our shopping history. Many consumers are unsatisfied with this state of affairs. Some find it abusive that their privacy is the price to pay for access to socially or economically unavoidable internet platforms. Others hate to be paying twice for their internet service, both with their money and with their personal information. And all are outraged by data breaches, hacks, revelations of corporate and state surveillance, and other social and political scandals. Consumers in the USA, the European Union (EU), and elsewhere want more control over their personal data, and they demand privacy protection.