Disruptive Business Models in Data-Driven Markets: Rethinking EU Competition Law through the Lens of Privacy

This research highlights how the disruptive business models of digital platforms have altered the structure of digital markets and the very logic of competition, shifting the core value from price and output to data control and monetization. Against this background, the current EU competition law framework, largely grounded in the “more economic approach”, consumer welfare, and allocative efficiency proves increasingly inadequate to address the systemic risks of data-driven markets. The paper advances an alternative framework in which personal data protection is recognized as a fully-fledged competitive parameter, shaping both service quality and consumer autonomy. This proposal is anchored in recent legal and regulatory developments: the Meta/Bundeskartellamt proceedings and the Court of Justice’s case law, which acknowledge privacy as a relevant factor in competition analysis, as well as the ex ante obligations introduced by the Digital Markets Act. Together, these elements support a multidimensional vision of EU competition law, responsive to the challenges of the digital economy. Research purpose: Disruptive business models of digital platforms have reshaped market power and competition dynamics, exposing the limits of current EU antitrust law. This research proposes innovative solutions that integrate personal data protection as a competitive parameter, aiming to enhance market contestability and safeguard consumer through a multidimensional approach to competition law. Research motivation: The research stems from the recognition that traditional competition law tools are insufficient to address the disruptive transformations brought by digital platforms. By shifting competition from price and output to data control and user influence, these models demand a reassessment of how privacy protection can be integrated into antitrust analysis. Research design, approach, and method: The approach adopted is legal-comparative, with particular attention to European competition law and the framework on personal data protection. The research combines theoretical inquiry with case law analysis, focusing in particular on the Meta/Bundeskartellamt proceedings and the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice, as well as on the regulatory innovations introduced by the Digital Markets Act. Main findings: The analysis demonstrates that personal data today constitute an essential dimension of service quality and, consequently, a relevant parameter of competition. Privacy, traditionally confined to the domain of data protection law, emerges as a competitive variable directly affecting the welfare of the digital consumer. Recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice and the ex ante regulation introduced by the Digital Markets Act confirm the necessity of a multidimensional conception of competition law, capable of incorporating non-economic values such as the protection of privacy. Practical/managerial implications: Recognizing privacy as a competitive parameter enables more effective repression of exploitative practices rooted in data appropriation and consumer harm, while ensuring a more accurate understanding of digital market dynamics. This approach represents an essential update of the antitrust enforcement toolkit, aligning it with the structural challenges of data-driven business models and reinforcing market contestability.