Which? comments on the report of the Digital Competition Expert Panel

Caroline Normand, Which? Director of Policy said:

“For too long consumers have felt powerless faced with the might of the tech giants, so plans to give people greater control over their data and put consumer interests at the heart of decisions about competition and mergers are a positive step – which we hope the Government will move quickly to implement.

“Measures to clamp down on the biggest players in the market exploiting their position and making it easier for small businesses to challenge them could promote greater choice and innovation for consumers – but this should not come at the expense of data security.

“The report reinforces the urgent need for an investigation into digital advertising to ensure consumer data is being used in a fair and transparent way as tech firms increase their stranglehold on the market.”

Notes to editors:

• The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unlocking-digital-competition-report-of-the-digital-competition-expert-panel
• Which?’s ‘Control, Alt or Delete? The Future of Consumer Data’  report in which it calls on the CMA to conduct a market study in to the digital advertising industry as a matter of urgency can be found here: https://www.which.co.uk/policy/digitisation/2659/control-alt-or-delete-the-future-of-consumer-data-main-report  

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