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Data as Currency

其他書名	A Reevaluation of the Consumer Welfare Standard for Digital Markets
出版	SSRN, 2023
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=WgQ20AEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋This paper studies the rising concentration and decline in competition, particularly within the technology sector, and argues that there is a deep connection with the ability for technology companies to harvest consumer data. While their digital services have often been characterized as "free," the services come at a cost: consumer privacy. Technology companies have benefited substantially from consumer data, fueling their advertising business models. To reverse the trend of rising concentration, we argue that courts should view data as a type of currency. Treating data as a form of currency resolves much of the confusion surrounding the consumer welfare standard and can assist agencies and state Attorney Generals when bringing consumer protection and antitrust cases. Consumer protection and antitrust enforcement are integral to a free market. But consumers can only avail themselves to greater competition and innovation at large once courts and regulators adopt the premise that data is in fact currency. Our paper has four goals. First, we discuss what we mean by “free services.” Second, we review the empirical evidence about rising market concentration and its adverse effects on innovation. Third, we provide a descriptive account of how modern-day antitrust law adopted the consumer welfare standard. Fourth, we discuss how this rising concentration has led to a decrease in consumer welfare. Finally, we propose a sample of methodological approaches that courts can leverage to ensure that we are evaluating tech markets and consumer welfare in the tech space more accurately.