The interface between data portability and Competition law EU perspective

Personal data has long played an important role in many business models. Still, the value of data is
persistently growing, and this correlates with changes in business models in favour of the use of
personal data analysis. Such business models can negatively affect the data subject's control over
personal data. To give back some control to the data subjects, legislators in the European Union (EU)
through the General data protection regulation (GDPR) Article 20 established a new right - Right to
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data portability. This right guarantees ''the ability of people to reuse data across interoperable
applications,'' thus ensuring, to some extent, control of their data. Legislators aim behind this right
was ''to empower data subjects regarding their own personal data, as it facilitates their ability to move,
copy or transmit personal data easily from one IT environment to another.’' 3
At the same time, data portability does not only affect data subjects' rights. It considerably impacts
data controllers, setting new obligations, that can, in many ways, prepossess their business model. In
particular, this ''new regulatory tool in EU law that aims to stimulate competition and innovation in
data-driven markets'' affects competition law. The question is if this interface between data protection
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and competition regulation works and creates a certain balance or equality. As the GDPR regulates
data privacy and introduces tools of data protection, like data portability, that only in part refers to
competition law. Understandably, this cold lead to some uncertainties and challenges. However, this
doesn't mean that regulation at present isn't working and changes in regulation must be made. …