Should China’s Anti-Monopoly Law protect personal information?

With the proliferation of personal information infringements, Chinese scholars generally support the inclusion of personal information protection within the scope of the anti-monopoly law. Guidelines for Anti-Monopoly in the Field of Platform Economy also added corresponding types of behaviors. However, these overlook the complex relationship between personal information and competition, as well as the limitations of the anti-monopoly law. Personal information protection encompasses two modes: direct and indirect. In the case of direct protection, the division of law determines that the anti-monopoly law cannot directly protect personal information beyond competition elements. In the case of indirect protection, the lack of correlation between personal information protection and market competition, user cognitive biases, and other factors determine that personal information protection cannot be considered as an important competitive element within the scope of anti-monopoly law. Therefore, this article concludes that mandatory collection of personal information does not violate the anti-monopoly law, the use of personal information generally does not violate the anti-monopoly law, and merger reviews generally do not consider personal information harm.