The GDPR also sets the establishment of the free movement of personal data in the EU as one of the objectives of the regulation. Achieving this objective which has economic effects should have positive effects on competition and, consequently, on social welfare. The GDPR, as a concretization of the right to protection of personal data, tries to influence social welfare positively by providing greater control over personal data, which should reduce information asymmetries and thus eliminate one of the positions of the market failures.
The analysis showed that the GDPR on the normative level is appropriate in pursuing this objective in most cases. However, further analysis based on empirical data on the exercise of consent and micro-rights in practice has shown that regulation is partially ineffective in some cases. Therefore, we cannot confirm that the GDPR implements the economic objective in practice fully effectively. Consequently, the GDPR is not entirely successful in reducing information asymmetries, which means that we cannot conclude that the GDPR has positive effects on social welfare.
The processing of personal data which causes information asymmetries is also used by companies to analyze consumer behavior in the markets, thus, they try to increase their profits. Utilizing these analyzes, they discriminate in terms of price, which, under certain conditions, does not necessarily impact social welfare negatively.
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