Rivalry for user data: Implications for Consumers and Law – Dr. Vikas Kathuria

About The Speaker:

Dr Vikas Kathuria is Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich. He researches and writes on competition law and regulation in the data-driven markets. Vikas earned his PhD from the Tilburg Law & Economics Center, the Netherlands. His PhD thesis investigated the role of competition law in fostering innovation in emerging markets. Vikas has previously worked with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and has also taught at the Jindal Global University and the Bennett University. His research papers have appeared in international peer-reviewed journals.

Topic Brief:

Artificial Intelligence driven algorithms are redefining businesses in the marketplace. Players such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon employ the power of AI in their businesses. In the Artificial Intelligence ecosystem, access to user data is the key determinant of success for firms. The user data gives critical insights about user behavior and allows for more precise predictions. Disease diagnosis, face recognition, harvest yield predictions and also behavioral targetting of advertisements are just a few examples of AI-driven innovations that define Industry 4.0. It is, therefore, natural that firms will compete for users’ personal data. Not only this rivalry may compromise users’ privacy, but it may also result in nuanced anticompetitive behavior. The purpose of this talk, therefore, is to introduce the audience to the rising importance of big data, its implications for their privacy, and the anticompetitive behavior that harms consumers and poses challenges to the policymakers.

Date: 04 May, 2019
Time: 12:00 PM – 01:00 PM
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMl_dxS_La8