DOJ’s Kanter Says Agency To Hire Data Experts To Monitor Online Monopolies

The Department of Justice has announced an expansion to its ranks of economic and data experts. During an onstage interview with CNN, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Jonathan Kantner, announced plans to post additional job listings for data scientists and analysts, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said at a Washington conference.

Kanter is looking to bolster their division with experts in technology, computer science, and machine learning. This indicates an awareness of the potential of using data and algorithms to personalize offers and information as well as an emphasis on avoiding any entrenchments that could be created by such practices. Consequently, they are actively working to recruit technologists with relevant experience.

Related: DOJ Gets Tough on Digital Monopolies, More Data Experts Hired

“One of the things we’re confronting in any market we address today,” Kanter told CNN, “whether it’s health care, energy, consumer tech, enterprise tech and everything in between, the importance of data is so significant, so substantial that we need to understand at an expert level how that data is used, how it affects the economics, how it affects the potential for tipping, moat-building and other competitive dynamics.”

Future antitrust enforcement, Kanter suggested, may focus on so-called “dark patterns,” or design choices a company makes in its website or product to nudge consumers toward making the company’s preferred choice, such as agreeing to give up their personal information.