A Clarification of the Relationship Between GDPR and DMA

Abstract

The Digital Markets Act is a new piece of EU legislation that builds on existing EU legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation, to target regulation of tech giants. While the protection of personal data and privacy at a fundamental rights level used to be the cornerstone of EU regulation, the EU has now also made it a priority to exploit the benefits of a data-driven economy and to increase the competitiveness of European markets. In this paper, we highlight the points of the Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Actand General Data Protection Regulation whose interplay will be crucial for the future development of a competitive and data-driven European economy. We will examine the primacy of the General Data Protection Regulation, its possible lex specialis nature, and the prohibitions introduced by the Digital Markets Act, such as the prohibition to use business users’ and/or own consumers’ data for private purposes, or the prohibition to combine user data from different services of the platform. Finally, we will discuss the relationship between the Digital Markets Act and the preservation of the European data assets.