On Wednesday Meta responded to the German cartel office’s concerns by allowing the use of its virtual reality headset without a Facebook account, EuroNews reported.
Since spring Germany’s cartel office has been closely watching Meta and their VR acquisition. In May the regulator said its growth was of “paramount significance for competition across markets”, a classification that gives the regulator more scope to curb digital companies’ market power.
Related: EU Court Adviser Says German Watchdog Can Probe Meta’s Data Violations
Despite winning this concession from Meta, the Bundeskartellamt is not closing its probe of its VR offerings. It said today that it wants to keep an eye on how the tech giant presents these account choice options to VR users ergo, it’s scrutinizing the type of choice architecture (and/or dark patterns) Meta deploys and also said it’s monitoring how Meta proposes to combine user data across different services.
That’s particularly interesting as the German regulator will be hoping to enforce formal data separation between Meta’s VR products and its other social services in the near future.
The Bundeskartellamt’s press release today notes that the extent to which “such data processing is permissible” is a “live discussion topic” between it and Meta, including as a result of the aforementioned legal proceeding pending before the European Court of Justice.
“Until this matter has been clarified, Meta will, subject to certain exceptions, keep the data of users with a separate Meta account which are generated during their use of the Meta Quest headsets separate from the data gathered from other Meta services,” the FCO adds.
Featured News
T-Mobile’s Acquisition of Ka’ena Corporation Receives FCC Approval
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
UK Regulator Announces Two New Senior Executive Appointments
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
Paramount Global and Skydance Media Near Merger Deal, Eyeing CEO Change
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
BHP Unveils £31bn Mining Megamerger Proposal with Anglo American
Apr 25, 2024 by
nhoch@pymnts.com
ByteDance Prefers Shutdown Over Sale of TikTok Amid US Ban Threats
Apr 25, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI