Digital Data as an Essential Facility: Control

This paper examines the question of data as an essential facility. It argues that rather than size being the biggest driver of data meeting the definition of being an essential facility, it is instead whether the data are protected by copyright or privacy regulation.

Catherine Tucker¹

I. ARE DATA AN ESSENTIAL FACILITY?

The notion of an “Essential facility” is key to antitrust law, because denial of access to key facilities can mean that a potential monopoli