No Mistake About It : The Important Role of Antitrust in the Era of Big Data

Competition authorities in Europe (and to a lesser extent in other jurisdictions) are beginning to make data, its uses, and its implications for competition law, a key focus. Some, however, argue that competition law has a limited role to play in the era of big data. We respectfully disagree. Competition law will play an integral role to ensure that we capture the benefits of a data-driven economy while mitigating its associated risks. After outlining several implications of big data on competition policy, we address some of the myths about big data and competition law. These myths paint with a broad brush and tend to obscure the legitimate challenges big data presents to competition officials.Our article discusses why big data is not a passing antitrust fad and recommends some next steps for the competition agencies. First and foremost, it is necessary for the agencies to understand the tradeoffs in the big data era, and to ask the right questions and use the right tools