Data Privacy - Thematic Research

Data Privacy - Thematic Research

Summary

Big Tech’s golden age of light touch regulation, strong political alliances, and near immunity from prosecution for activity that would be deemed illegal in the offline world, seems to be over. Public trust towards Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple (GAFA) has never been lower. Big Tech companies have persistently evaded any form of accountability for data breaches, election manipulation, obstruction of justice, promotion of terrorist material, fake news, and online abuse perpetrated through their own internet platforms. Once deemed consumer champions, Big Tech now appears to be the new dark side of capitalism, arguably presenting a bigger risk to society than bankers were in 2007. Public outrage at their actions is now forcing regulators to act.

Once deemed consumer champions, Big Tech now appears to be the new dark side of capitalism, arguably presenting a bigger risk to society than bankers were in 2007. Public outrage at their actions is now forcing regulators to act.

In the past, tech companies had to worry about one regulator, typically focused on antitrust issues. In future, they may have 10 regulators breathing down their necks. After several years of regulatory missives emanating from the European Union (EU), US regulators are also initiating formal probes.

Scope

- This report looks at how regulation will impact the tech, media, and telecom (TMT) industry globally. It concludes that data privacy regulation is the biggest near-term threat.
- It identifies the companies that will be impacted by data privacy regulation, as well as the main trends in data privacy.
- It includes details of regulatory acts by country, across regulatory arenas including data privacy, antitrust, tax avoidance, and online harm.
- It also includes a regulatory timeline, showing the major milestones in this theme.

Reasons to buy

- Data privacy regulation is the biggest threat to Big Tech. At stake is the very future of the ad-funded business model that supports Facebook, Google, and many others.
- Even antitrust regulators are shifting their focus from investigating abuse of significant market power in product markets to investigating abuse of power when it comes to the control of customer data.
- In this report, we identify the likely winners and losers from the data privacy theme.