Issue

Core Concern

Domestic and International Regulatory Trends

Data Access Restrictions

• Firms with large user bases may obstruct competitors’ data collection or refuse access to essential data.

• To date, the prevailing view is that domestic firms have not faced major difficulties in collecting data.

• Abroad, the refusal to grant access to essential data has been treated as a breach of competition law.

Privacy-based Justification

• Companies may use privacy protection as a pretext to grant exclusive data use privileges to their own services while imposing stricter standards on competitors. This “non neutral” practice restricts fair data collection.

• The French competition authority imposed fines on a platform operator for requiring additional consent only when third party apps tracked user data.

• Some domestic businesses reported difficulties due to other businesses’ actions aimed at “strengthening” personal data protection.

Impediments to Interoperability

• When a dominant platform restricts integration with other services, it can harm competition and potentially infringe upon consumers’ freedom of choice.

• A fact-finding survey found that, domestically, the need for stronger interoperability was raised particularly in the app market and general search sectors. The KFTC plans to treat impediments to interoperability as a key indicator of abusive conduct.

• The EU and other jurisdictions impose ex-ante interoperability obligations on dominant platform operators, whereas the United States pursues ex-post competition law enforcement (with some lawsuits filed against platform operators for impeding interoperability).

Consumer Choice and Pricing

• Data may be collected through “dark patterns,” or users may be effectively forced to consent to data combining as a condition of service.

• Dynamic pricing can have both pro-competitive and anti-competitive effects.

• If dark patterns are used to induce consent, this may violate domestic laws such as the Act on Labeling and Advertising and the E-Commerce Act.

• German and EU competition authorities have sanctioned cases where dominant platforms forced users to integrate data from multiple services for targeted advertising.

Unlawful Concerted Practices

• Data pooling: While sharing data among competitors can improve efficiency, it carries a risk of collusive information exchange if sensitive data (e.g., prices, transaction terms) is shared.

• Algorithmic collusion: This involves price coordination conducted through pricing algorithms. 

• In Korea, data pooling is not yet widespread.

• International authorities have been actively enforcing regulations against algorithmic collusion.

• The KFTC intends to strengthen its monitoring of tacit collusion facilitated by advanced pricing algorithms.

Mergers and Data Concentration

• When data is combined through corporate mergers, concerns arise regarding market concentration, lock-in effects, and increased barriers to entry.

• In its merger reviews of data platforms, the KFTC has closely examined the anti-competitive effects of data combination and has imposed remedies where necessary. The KFTC recognizes the need for comprehensive reviews regarding impacts on privacy and overall service quality.