Sally Broughton Micova, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; a vice-chair of the ECREA Communication Law and Policy section
Following the revelations about Facebook’s relationship with Cambridge Analytica and the likely misuse of millions of Facebook users’ personal data for political campaigns, many called for leaving the platform. As far as I can tell from my surprisingly extensive friends list, not many people left the platform, and my list contains a disproportionate number of well-informed media scholars. Perhaps the Cambridge Analytica scandal didn’t change much, but the next time something like this happens, it might.
The reason there could be more consequences next time, is because of the data portability right enshrined in the GDPR. There is now at least more potential for competition for users on the basis of privacy. Why did so few of leave Facebook? Well, for one thing, each of us had invested photos and birthday reminders, favourite posts, etc. Article 20 of the GDPR states that we have the right to receive all the data we have given to the platform “in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format”. This is an important step towards enabling users who are not satisfied with the privacy conditions or behaviour of a platform to switch.
The data portability right helps make switching easier because, theoretically (there are still challenges in terms of how it will be technically implemented for many platforms), one can take one’s profile, complete with contacts, connections and content to a competitor easily, and according to the GDPR, even ask the platform to transfer it all to a competitor. It is the same principle that allows us to keep our mobile telephone number when we switch providers. It is designed to reduce the lock-in effect of having all that data on one platform.
Of course, another reason so few people actually left Facebook after this major privacy breach is that everyone is there, and there are no competitors really, other than in the Russian and Chinese language markets. The network effects of Facebook’s reach make it hard for anyone else to enter the market with a similar product. However, with all EU citizens now having the right to data portability there is potential for the kind of critical mass needed for another player. Facebook is already less popular with younger audiences who favour other platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram because of the different functionalities, but there may now be room for another player that offers similar functionality and aims to appeal to the same demographic as Facebook and targets those with privacy concerns.
Healthy competition relies on consumers switching, having sufficient information and being easily able to do so. In these markets, being able to take your data with you is an important first step, but as Engels (2016) has argued, the consequences of data portability for competition and innovation may be complex and not necessarily lead to more innovation and new entrants to the market. Enforcement of this new right should be carefully paired with competition law (Diker Vanberg & Ünver, 2017) in order to effectively deal with situations of dominance. Facebook’s position is not likely to be easily eroded, nor does it need to be, but if large numbers of Europeans started moving to a new platform that offered better privacy protection, it might cause Facebook to up its game at least.
Diker Vanberg, A. & Ünver, MB., (2017) "The right to data portability in the GDPR and EU competition law: odd couple or dynamic duo?", in European Journal of Law and Technology, Vol 8, No 1,
Engels, B. (2016). “Data portability among online platforms”. Internet Policy Review, 5(2).
