Germany's Federal Cartel Office/Bundeskartellamt (FCO) has published the report on its sector inquiry on smart TVs, the results of which suggest that data protection law and competition law are getting ever closer.
This means that, in future, a single infringement of the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR) could trigger investigations by two separate authorities (Germany's data protection authority and the FCO). However, there are legal arguments that question such an overlap of competencies.
In its report, the FCO concludes that consumers, when buying a smart TV, are not properly informed about how the devices will collect and process their personal data which results in data-privacy-friendly products being unable to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Furthermore, the FCO identifies certain deficiencies in smart TVs' data-security standards.
The report helps to once again support the view that the FCO is assuming competence to assess provisions of the GDPR in great detail.
