Interoperability = Privacy + Competition

As Congress and other relevant stakeholders debate how to protect Americans’ privacy, a key concern is making sure that new legislation doesn’t entrench the power of big tech incumbents. In this post, we argue that incorporating data interoperability into privacy legislation is essential to empowering consumers’ data rights and fostering a competitive marketplace. In a nutshell, interoperability means enabling different systems and organizations to communicate with each other and work together. We outline a policy approach for interoperability built on the lessons of the Cable Act, the Telecommunications Act, and the United Kingdom’s Open Banking initiative.