'Big Data, Open Data, Privacy Regulations, Intellectual Property and Competition Law in an Internet of Things World' (Faculty of Law, University of Stockholm Research Paper No. 1) by Bjorn Lundqvist
comments
The interface between the legal systems triggered by the creation, distribution and consumption of Data is difficult to grasp, and this paper therefore tries to dissect this interface by following information, i.e. ‘the data’ from its sources, to users and re-users and ultimately to its consumers in an ‘Internet of Things’, or Industrial Internet, setting. The paper starts with the attempt to identify what legal systems are applicable this process, with special focus on when competition law may be useful for accessing data. The paper conclude that general competition law may not be readily available for accessing generic (personal or non-personal) Data, except for the situation where the Data set is indispensable to access an industry or a relevant market; while sector specific regulations seem to emerge as a tool for accessing Data held by competitors and third parties. However, the main issue under general competition law in the Data industry, at its current stage of development, is to create a levelled playing field by trying to facilitate the implementation of Internet of Things.
'The EU data protection reform and the challenges of big data: remaining uncertainties and ways forward' by Maria Eduarda Gonçalves in (2017)
Information and Communications Technology Law comments
As the first broad reform of the EU data protection legislation is being achieved, and notwithstanding EU institutions’ confident discourse, scepticism remains about the reform’s ability to safeguard the fundamental right to data protection in the face of evolving data processing techniques underlying so-called big data. Yet, one might wonder whether the cause for this difficulty should be ascribed mainly to technological progresses that the law finds it hard to deal with or rather to the policy choices embedded in the legal reform itself. Indeed, a new data protection enforcement model is being adopted, which relies heavily on risk assessment and management by the data controllers themselves. Likewise, data protection authorities see their supervisory role significantly weakened. These developments and the underlying rationality are discussed. Given the limitations of the risk-based approach as currently devised, we suggest that it be reappraised in consideration of risk regulatory experiences in other domains.
'Legal Implications of Data Mining: Assessing the European Union's Data Protection Principles in Light of the United States Government's National Intelligence Data Mining Practices' (Faculty of Law, Stockholm University Research Paper No. 5) by Liane Colonna
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The world has changed dramatically in recent decades. Private documents are no longer stored in basement cabinets within identifiable locations but rather they are housed in unknown data centers around the word. International communication has become easier, cheaper and more prevalent than ever before because of ongoing advances in information communication technologies. More and more of people’s lives are lived online where the details of their private existences – where they travel, what they eat, who they communicate with most frequently, what they read and write, how much they exercise, how much they sleep, what government services they utilize and so on – can be tracked with relative ease. Because of the structure of the Internet, not only do these data travel through a variety of different countries en route to their final destination but they may also be accessed from places very distant from where the communication was initially generated.
