The rise of big data in the global economy has led to concerns about antitrust and consumer protection, but policy makers often treat the two areas separately. The separate treatment is justified in classical markets because antitrust tends to focus on firm-to-firm interactions, while consumer protection deals with firm-to-consumer interfaces. The two areas may also be subject to different laws, and any crossovers between the two have tended to be small. However, big data blurs the distinction between the two, causing them to intertwine, complement or even conflict with each other. This paper uses examples to illustrate why that is the case and identifies areas that would benefit from more economic research.

全球经济中大数据的兴起引起了人们对反托拉斯和消费者保护的担忧，但是政策制定者经常将这两个领域分开对待。在古典市场中，分开对待是有道理的，因为反托拉斯趋向于侧重于企业与企业之间的互动，而消费者保护则涉及企业与消费者之间的接口。这两个区域也可能受制于不同的法律，并且两者之间的任何交叉都趋向于很小。但是，大数据模糊了两者之间的区别，导致它们相互交织，互补甚至冲突。本文使用示例来说明为什么会出现这种情况，并确定可以从更多经济研究中受益的领域。