This seminar seeks to foster critical discussion among scholars, practitioners and regulatory experts on the legal and institutional frameworks governing digital markets, with the aim of gaining insights from Ukraine and Norway. Speakers from Ukraine will address the challenges of war for the data-driven economy and the impact of data protection and competition law. This will be followed by a round of reflections from a Norwegian perspective.
WHEN: 19 August 2025, 10.00-12.00
WHERE: OsloMet, Pilestredet 35, Ellen Gleditschs hus, 6 etg. Auditorium PI646
PI646, P 35 Ellen Gleditschs hus, OsloMet – Pilestredet – MazeMap
Programme:
Moderated by Liliia Oprysk, Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Data Protection and Competition Law: Cross-Regulatory Solutions for Ukraine
with Dr. Nataliia Mazaraki
Chair of the International, civil and commercial law department, State University of Trade and Economics, Visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Munich, Germany), 2022-2025
The analysis identifies opportunities for cross-regulatory cooperation between Ukraine’s competition authority and data protection agencies, suggesting integrated regulatory approaches to effectively manage digital market power and safeguard personal data—essential components of Ukraine’s digital transformation and European integration. The research highlights cases and key regulatory trends in Ukrainian digital markets and data governance: (1) BlaBlaCar antitrust case (2025) – the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) fined the local operator approximately ₴424,000 for failing to provide requested competition information, marking the first enforcement action in the online P2P mobility sector and signaling broader scrutiny of digital platforms; (2) Kyiv Digital vs. MIA platform bias (2025) – AMCU issued formal recommendations to prevent state-led favoritism toward the MIA’s driving simulator app over private competitors, reinforcing the application of competition rules to government-backed platforms. Legal and market trends illustrate a dynamic shift, as Ukraine’s legal system actively shapes the governance of digital platforms by embedding competition and data protection principles into its digital economy framework: (а) Expanding AMCU enforcement – In 2024, the AMCU handled 312 information-related cases in digital markets, signaling a shift from traditional cartel oversight toward platform-centric regulation; (b) GDPR-aligned reforms – Draft Law № 8153 (2022) introduces new rights, breach notification requirements, and expanded definitions, deepening alignment with EU standards; (с) Digital public law innovation – Ukraine enacted laws on electronic documents and e-justice, supported by the Diia platform, enabling paperless courts and digital state services even during wartime; (d) Platform strategy meets legal control – Both state and private platforms are increasingly integrating AI-driven operations, privacy-by-design principles, and anti-bias compliance measures in response to AMCU enforcement and GDPR-style regulations.
War and the Data-Driven Economy: Challenges and Solutions
with Dr. Liudmyla Petrenko
Professor, Department of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship, Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman (KNEU); Visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Munich, Germany), 2022-2025
The presentation examines how Ukrainian digital platforms have strategically leveraged user data, regulatory frameworks, and innovative governance models to drive business growth and resilience in wartime conditions. Drawing on recent trends: The e-commerce market rose to nearly $4 billion in 2024, marking a ~30% YoY increase, driven by digital payments, mobile commerce, and omnichannel approaches. The IT and fintech sector, contributing almost 5% to GDP, reached $8 billion in revenue in 2023, underscoring the sector’s economic significance. The analysis emphasizes how digital technologies facilitated economic continuity, enabling remote work, sustaining export revenues, and supporting domestic consumption through innovative online platforms. Additionally, it addresses significant challenges, such as infrastructure damage, human capital loss, and cybersecurity threats, detailing Ukraine’s adaptive strategies including cloud migration, international collaboration, and enhanced digital governance. The study concludes by reflecting on how the crisis has accelerated digital transformation, creating lasting structural changes and global integration opportunities vital for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.
Book presentation – Data Privacy and Competition Law in the Age of Big Data: Unpacking the Interface through Complexity Science
With Dr. Samson Esayas
In the last few years, we have seen the emergence of companies whose core business models are built around the monetisation of users’ personal data. At the forefront of this venture are companies like Google and Facebook, which collect and analyse massive amount of data about consumers—where they are, what devices they use, what they purchase and different categories of their online behaviours and interests—often without consumers’ full awareness. Among other things, the collection of such vast amounts of data enables these companies to create detailed profiles of consumers and deliver online advertising with remarkable precision. This ad-based business model has allowed these companies to achieve extremely high turnovers and ascend to the top of the hierarchy of the most valuable companies. This increased monetisation of personal data has ignited global debate on the interface between data privacy law and competition law. In his book, Data Privacy and Competition Law in the Age of Big Data (Oxford University Press 2024), Samson Esayas provides a comprehensive, novel, and interdisciplinary analysis of this nexus. Drawing insights from emergent properties and complexity science, the book exposes the commonalities and conflicts between how data privacy law and competition law address challenges resulting from the commercialization of personal data.
The book begins by identifying key shifts in big data: the growing trend of processing personal data for diverse purposes, the aggregation of data across various operations, and the shift from offering stand-alone products and services to ecosystems of several, with personal data central in connecting the different markets. These shifts engender a complex economic landscape, marked by multiple actors, a web of interactions, and non-linear, emergent outcomes. Despite this complexity, the prevailing approach to data privacy law and competition law emphasises isolated units of analysis-whether a relevant market or a distinct processing operation. This approach overlooks system-wide (emergent) risks borne of cumulative processing operations and cross-market practices. Additionally, a mindset focused on either data privacy law or competition law overlooks the increasing intersection between the two regimes, missing opportunities for synergy. In light of these challenges, Esayas’s volume calls for recalibrating data privacy law and competition law for a complex economy, emphasizing a holistic, systems-level perspective that addresses emergent harms and a polycentric strategy that leverages the strengths of each legal regime.
Dr Samson Esayas is an Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School and a Faculty Associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He specializes in teaching data protection law, AI regulation, and competition law. He was a visiting researcher at the Berkman Klein Center in 2023.
Data Protection, Competition and Consumer Law Interplay – Experiences from Norway
with Anders Sæve Obrestad, Specialist legal advisor at the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet), section for private sector. Previously worked at the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority.
Discussion Round