Our Magazine
Brussels Morning Online Newspaper
Saturday, January 23, 2021
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • EU institutions
    • Commission
    • Parliament
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
Brussels Morning Online Newspaper
  • Home
  • EU institutions
    • Commission
    • Parliament
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
Brussels Morning Online Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
Home EU Institutions

Data to flow more freely in Europe under new Data Governance Act

Anna-Karin Friis by Anna-Karin Friis
25 November 2020
in EU Institutions
Data to flow more freely in Europe under new Data Governance Act
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Brussels (Brussels Morning) The first of a set of acts pertaining to the EU’s new data strategy was released by the Commission today. Since much of the proposal had been leaked a few weeks ago, today’s publication did not come as much of a surprise to those involved. 

The aim is to enable the re-use of publicly-held data, both personal and commercial, for purposes other than that which they were initially collected for.

The use of personal data is subject to privacy rules and data protection guaranteeing individual integrity, whereas business data is safeguarded from common use if it contains trade secrets that cannot be disclosed. Some data can be ruled out from re-use if such is forbidden by sector-specific rules. 

The underlying premise is that data the public sector collects in the course of its work (e.g. in healthcare) can be re-used when anonymised or used as meta-data when extracted from a big number of users (clients or patients).

The information could come from different sources — also e.g. mapping data or traffic monitoring can be used for sharing, or data from agriculture. 

The re-use of data should be limited to what is necessary in order to preserve the rights and interests of others. Nor should it compromise public sector’s IT systems. Moreover, public sector bodies allowing re-use should have the technical means to ensure safe transmission of data.

”Now there is legal clarity for data sharing,” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager declared in Brussels today. ”There is a benefit for the single market with access to data from different EU countries under similar conditions.

So far, it has been the lack of common tools and not the willingness to share that limits data sharing,” she clarified.

Anonymised personal data in circulation

The new EU rules will need to be further defined before being adopted. As is, they require that data must be anonymised so that the so-called data subjects  (persons) cannot by identified and data containing confidential commercial information must be modified to ensure that no trade secrets are disclosed. However, data could still be tapped at source as data analysis under public supervision. 

Transmission may not be allowed in all instances, but that does not necessarily prevent the use of the information. The re-user (e.g. a research body or a company) would then sign a confidentiality agreement provided the persons concerned agree to the use of their information, an arrangement the public body gathering the information is under an obligation to promote.

Standard consent forms are encouraged as a way of making information available for the common good — ”data altruism” as it is called. The act, which has yet to be finalised, does aim at strengthening European bodies in order that they share data and use the results within a European data space.

”The most important thing is we will have data flowing,” Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in Brussels on Wednesday. ”We should decide on the rules on our own continent.”

The whole process is to be facilitated by independent intermediaries set up to share data in a neutral manner. Under a European model of collaborative sharing, data will not be monetised (only administrative fees will be charged). Data for shared use could also be collected for a group of individuals, e.g. patients that follow up on their own condition and relate that data through an intermediary for use in research. 

”Data can be made available for re-use while maintaining privacy,” Commissioner Vestager said. ”We will be boosting voluntary data sharing, but this will only work if intermediaries are fully trusted.”

Data flowing under protection

Service providers should still not be able to share information for other purposes than those agreed to by legal or physical entities. The data intermediaries also serve individuals who can manage their consent to data processing and access their own data or correct their data in their own interest.

”The data intermediaries at least serve a purpose for the individual; if you, for example, need access to your own digital data, the operator can get it by acquiring permission from different sources,” says Teemu Ropponen, a Finnish member of the MyData Global community that works on the ethical use of personal data.

”This is on our part all about getting the data to flow. We work on data sovereignty and at least this proposal should favour smaller actors on the market. With a big number of small operators that work together we challenge those huge tech giants.”

The MyData network promotes a human-centric approach to personal data that combines industry needs for data with strong digital human rights. ”The data should flow but it should be protected. We are so-to-speak in favour of good data sharing,” Ropponen adds.

The Data Governance Act is the EU’s response to ensuring effective data flow and encouraging European actors on the market. Similarly, the UK is adopting its own data strategy, something that could jeopardise the trade deal with the EU.

Other acts that are part of the EU’s data strategy deal with digital services as a regulation of the online platform economy, which is due next week, and, in January, one on the use of data and data-sharing. The draft Digital Services Act is the Commission’s way of tackling the American tech giants that so far have been under investigation for abusing their dominance on the markets and for breaching anti-trust rules. 

What follows next is the process of debating data governance in the European Parliament and adapting the text until its adoption as a legally binding regulation. 

Tweets by vestager
Tweets by ThierryBreton
Tweets by mydataorg
Tags: Data Governance ActEuropean UnionMain-Slider
Anna-Karin Friis

Anna-Karin Friis

Anna-Karin Friis is the Brussels Morning Acting Editor- in-Chief and the Senior Brussels Correspondent. A Scandinavian journalist with background in broadcast media and experience in the External Action Service. She has a passion for lengthy reads and made her debut as an author with one published novel and another in the making.

Latest post

Ombudsman launches investigation into Commission’s COVID-19 vaccine contracts

Ombudsman launches investigation into Commission’s COVID-19 vaccine contracts

9 hours ago
Fears violence will return to Iraq ahead of elections

Fears violence will return to Iraq ahead of elections

9 hours ago

Most Read

  • Italy’s cannabis industry could rival the legal market in the US

    Italy’s cannabis industry could rival the legal market in the US

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Can Armenia and Azerbaijan win peace together?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Emiratis shape the European defense agenda

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How EU trade and investment deals can fight climate change

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The groundbreaking significance of the EU’s European Public Prosecutor’s Office

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Subscribe
Facebook Twitter Youtube LinkedIn

About Us

Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.

Category

  • Ambassador’s Corner
  • Commission
  • Council
  • Culture and Society
  • Diplomacy
  • Economy
  • EU Institutions
  • Europe
  • Europe With Transparency
  • Features
  • In Depth
  • Member States
  • Middle East Eye
  • Opinion
  • Our pick
  • Parliament
  • Place de la Bourse
  • Southeast Europe
  • Sustainable Perspective
  • The American Angle
  • The Macro-Economist
  • Uncategorised
  • US Elections
  • World

More info

  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Cookies Policy
  • Contact Us
  • FAQ
  • Jobs

Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • EU Institutions
    • Parliament
    • Commission
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Member States
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • The American Angle
    • Southeast Europe
  • Magazine

Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.