The Dawn for a New Antitrust Law Framework for Digital Platforms, Evidence from an Empirical Comparative Analysis of EU Antitrust Decisions

The Digital platforms are a unique creation of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The digital economy may have replaced the industrial economy, but the rules created to oversee the fair operation of the industrial economy have not kept pace with that evolution. The digitalization of the economy with consumer data as a new critical resource is an advancement of a technological revolution which needs an adaptation of regulatory framework for markets and the world economy. This paper analyzed the privacy and data protection concerns in the digital economy from an economic perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises. The tech giants, by controlling user's data are exploiting it for their own commercial benefits and inflicting the threats to the privacy of users.  This paper intends to shed light that it's not enough to look for policy solutions only within the competition or data protection law. Rather an integrated move from various regulatory perspectives is necessary. Therefore, the article focuses that the formalistic approach to article 101 and 102 of TFEU (Treaty On The Functioning OF The European Union which the EU Commission usually adopted as an effects-based approach) to counter exploitative, exclusionary practices, and potential harm to consumers is efficacious to regulate the digital platforms. Furthermore, this research presses the necessity of how the abusive conduct of data-driven entrants be regularized by forwarding the new concepts of antitrust law and its effective enforcement across the globe. The digital platforms have fundamentally changed the ways we interact with news, with each other, and with governments and business. Digital platforms act as intermediaries which connect two or more market participants via the platform and simplify their interaction

When Mobile Phones are RFID-Equipped - Finding E.U.-U.S. Solutions to Protect Consumer Privacy and Facilitate Mobile Commerce

New mobile phones have been designed to include delivery of mobile advertising and other useful location-based services, but have they also been designed to protect consumers\u27 privacy? One of the key enabling technologies for these new types of phones and new mobile services is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), a wireless communication technology that enables the unique identification of tagged objects. In the case of RFID-enabled mobile phones, the personal nature of the devices makes it very likely that, by locating a phone, businesses will also be able to locate its owner. Consumers are currently testing new RFID-enabled phones around the globe, but the phones are not yet in general use by consumers in the United States and Europe. The incorporation of RFID into cell phones in order to deliver mobile advertising and other location-based services raises a host of important privacy questions that urgently need to be addressed before the phones become widely available. Analyzing the risks to consumer privacy in this new context, this paper offers a comparative law analysis of the applicable regulatory frameworks and recent policy developments in the European Union and the United States and concludes that there are many privacy concerns not presently addressed by E.U. and U.S. laws. This article also offers specific ideas to protect consumers\u27 privacy through applications of fair information practices and privacy-enhancing technologies. When mobile phones are RFID-equipped, consumers will need new privacy protections in order to understand the risks and make knowledgeable decisions about their privacy

ALGORITHMIC AUDITING: CHASING AI ACCOUNTABILITY

Calls for audits to expose and mitigate harms related to algorithmic decision systems are proliferating,3 and audit provisions are coming into force—notably in the E.U. Digital Services Act.4 In response to these growing concerns, research organizations working on technology accountability have called for ethics and/or human rights auditing of algorithms and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) audit industry is rapidly developing, signified by the consulting giants KPMG and Deloitte marketing their services.5 Algorithmic audits are a way to increase accountability for social media companies and to improve the governance of AI systems more generally. They can be elements of industry codes, prerequisites for liability immunity, or new regulatory requirements.6 Even when not expressly prescribed, audits may be predicates for enforcing data-related consumer protection law, or what U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter calls “algorithmic justice.” 7 The desire for audits reflect a growing sense that algorithms play an important, yet opaque, role in the decisions that shape people’s life chances—as well as a recognition that audits have been uniquely helpful in advancing our understanding of the concrete consequences of algorithms in the wild and in assessing their likely impacts.

Extending the Cyber Capabilities of Small to Midsize Businesses

This project explores disparities in the cybersecurity practices of small to midsize businesses in comparison to larger organizations with more resources to allocate to cybersecurity. While the adoption of technical solutions offers many advantages, SMBs are struggling to maintain good cybersecurity practices in this era of digital transformation. Considering the overall security climate it is clear that SMBs are vulnerable to cyber threats, are being attacked more often and lack the proper resources or knowledge to effectively address threats. This paper proposes a model for SMBs to enhance their cyber capabilities with cybersecurity assessments and regular training provided by the National Guard’s Defensive Cyber Operations Element (DCO-E). Leveraging the capabilities of the DCO-E, in effect a “national cybersecurity squad,” to support a national cyber readiness and education campaign could be an effective method to enhance the cybersecurity of SMBs. The proposed model is supported with a initial survey results showing a promising willingness and support from SMBs