Australia’s Consumer Data-Sharing Regime: A World-Leading Reform

Abstract

The Consumer Data Right (‘CDR’) regime introduced in Australia in 2019 is worldleading and could promote much-needed competition in major sectors of the economy and reinvigorate a waning commercial morality. As with virtually all potentially transformative innovations, however, the challenges are many and, in this case, include the need to rigorously protect consumer data without imposing regulatory burdens that could deter new market entrants. The success of CDR will require a careful and ongoing balancing of risks and benefits. We analyse its extraordinary potential and argue for nuanced regulation and timely and extensive consumer education by government and industry.

Keywords: Data-sharing, APIs, Consumer data, Competition, Data protection, Consumer protection