Unlocking the Right to Data Portability

Dr. Stephanie Elfering

doi:10.5771/9783748902706

Summary

The EU data economy could double within the next years if policy and legal framework conditions are put in place in time. The first step has been taken by the EU with adoption of the GDPR, which introduced the right to data portability (RtDP). While the RtDP’s primary objective is to provide data subjects with greater control over personal data, it also has a pro-competitive character, as a tool to decrease consumer lock in.The RtDP is, however, not an absolute right, as Article 20(4) GDPR sets forth that it ‘shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others’. This arguably encompasses the sui generis database right under the Database Directive, which could represent a claim for controllers to not comply with a portability request. Unfortunately, the Commission’s second ex-post evaluation on the Database Directive did not approach such potential conflict.Against this background, this research aims to explore and redefine the interface between the RtDP and the sui generis database right, taking particular account of the data economy’s context.

Keywords

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2019
ISBN-Print: 978-3-8487-6148-7
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-0270-6
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Munich Intellectual Property Law Center - MIPLC Studies
Volume: 38
Language: English
Pages: 76
Product type: Book Titles

Titelei/InhaltsverzeichnisPages 1 - 10 Download chapter (PDF)
I. IntroductionPages 11 - 13 Download chapter (PDF)
Download chapter (PDF)
1. A. Brief Overview on the GDPR
2. B. The Concept of ‘Personal Data’
3. 1. 1. Legislative History and Purpose
  2. 2. Scope of the Right to Data Portability
  3. 1. (a) Processing Based on Consent or Contract
    2. (b) Processing by Automated Means
    3. (c) Personal Data ‘Concerning’ and ‘Provided by’ the Data Subject
  4. 4. The Exception of Rights and Freedoms of Others
4. D. Data Portability Beyond Personal Data?
Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1. 1. Defining a Database
  2. 1. 1. (1) The Substantial Investment Requirement
      2. (2) Investment in Obtaining, Verifying or Presenting
    2. (b) Ownership – the Database Maker
    3. (c) Scope of Protection
    4. (d) Exceptions and Limitations
2. 1. 1. (a) Online Platforms
    2. (b) Connected Devices
  2. 1. (a) Online Platforms
    2. (b) Connected Devices
  3. 3. The Sui Generis Database Right as ‘Rights of Others’
  4. 4. Data Portability Request as Extraction or Reutilization of the Contents of a Database
Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1. 1. (a) Lock-In Effects
    2. (b) Big Data Scenarios
    3. (c) Data Portability Refusal as Abuse of Dominance
  2. 2. Consumer Protection Law
  3. 3. Suitability of the Sui Generis Database Right for the Data Economy?
2. 1. 1. Case‑Law Interpretation
  2. 2. Repeal of the Database Directive or the Sui Generis Database Right
  3. 3. Amendment of the Database Directive
  4. 4. Preferred Approach
V. ConclusionPages 68 - 70 Download chapter (PDF)
List of Works CitedPages 71 - 76 Download chapter (PDF)

Bibliography (36 entries)

Banda C, Enforcing Data Portability in the Context of EU Competition Law and the GDPR (Master Thesis, MIPLC 2017) 61 Open Google Scholar
Beunen AC, Protection for databases: the European Database Directive and its effects in the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom (Wolf Legal 2007) 436 Open Google Scholar
Davison M and Hugenholtz PB, ‘Football fixtures, Horseraces and Spin-Offs: The ECJ Domesticates the Database Right’ [2005] 27 (3) EIPR 113 Open Google Scholar
De Hert P and others, ‘The right to Data Portability in the GDPR: Towards User-Centric Interoperability of Digital Services’ [2017] CLSR Open Google Scholar
Derclaye E, The legal protection of databases: a comparative analysis (Edward Elgar 2008) 362 Open Google Scholar
Drexl J, ‘Designing Competitive Markets for Industrial Data – Between Propertisation and Access’ (2017) 8 (4) JIPITEC 257 para 1 Open Google Scholar
Drexl J and others, ‘Position Statement of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition of 26 April 2017 on the European Commission’s “Public Consultation on Building the European Data Economy”’ (2017) Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 17-08 <https://ssrn.com/abstract=2959924> accessed 8 April 2018 Open Google Scholar
Drexl J, ‘Data Access and Control in the Era of Connected Devices – Study on Behalf of the European Consumer Organization BEUC’ (2018) BEUC <https://www.beuc.eu/publications/beuc-x-2018-121_data_access_and_control_in_the_area_of_connected_devices.pdf> accessed 9 June 2019 Open Google Scholar
Edwards L, ‘Data Protection: Enter the General Data Protection Regulation’ in Edwards L (ed), Law, Policy and the Internet (Hart Publishing 2018) (forthcoming) Open Google Scholar
Engels B, ‘Data Portability Among Online Platforms’ (2016) 5 (2) IPR Open Google Scholar
Graef I, Data as Essential Facility: Competition and Innovation on Online Platforms (Doctoral Thesis, KU Leuven Faculty of Law 2016) <https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/539854/1/Final+draft+PhD+-+Inge+Graef+-+Data+as+Essential+Facility+-+30+May+2016.pdf> accessed 15 March 2018 Open Google Scholar
Graef I, ‘Blurring Boundaries of Consumer Welfare: How to Create Synergies between Competition, Consumer and Data Protection Law in Digital Markets’ (2016) <https://ssrn.com/abstract=2881969> accessed 15 March 2018 Open Google Scholar
Graef I, Husovec M and Purtova N, ‘Data Portability and Data Control: Lessons for an Emerging Concept in EU Law’ (2017) DP 2017-041 Tilburg Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 22/2017 <https://ssrn.com/abstract=3071875> accessed 26 March 2018 Open Google Scholar
Graef I, Verschakelen J and Valcke P, ‘Putting the Right to Data Portability into a Competition Law Perspective’ (2013) <https://ssrn.com/abstract=2416537> accessed 28 March 2018 Open Google Scholar
Helberger N, Zuiderveen Borgesius F and Reyna A, ‘The Perfect Match? A Closer Look at the Relationship Between EU Consumer Law and Data Protection Law’ (2017) 54 (5) CML Rev 1427 Open Google Scholar
Hugenholtz PB, ‘Something Completely Different: Europe's Sui Generis Database Right’ in Frankel S and Gervais D (eds), The Internet and the Emerging Importance of New Forms of Intellectual Property (Information Law Series v 37, Kluwer Law International 2016) 205 Open Google Scholar
Hugenholtz PB, ‘Data Property in the System of Intellectual Property Law: Welcome Guest or Misfit?’ in Lohsse S, Schulze R and Staudenmayer D (eds), Trading Data in the Digital Economy: Legal Concepts and Tools Münster Colloquia on EU Law and the Digital Economy III (Nomos 2017) 75 Open Google Scholar
Janal R, ‘Data Portability - A Tale of Two Concepts’ (2017) 8 (1) JIPITEC 59 Open Google Scholar
Kamann HG and Braun M, ‘Art. 20 Recht auf Datenübertragbarkeit’ in Ehmann E and Selmayr M (eds) Datenschutz-Grundverordnung: DS-GVO (2nd edn, Beck 2018) 495 Open Google Scholar
Kur A and others, ‘First Evaluation of Directive 96/9/EC on the Legal Protection of Databases - Comment by the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, Munich’ (2006) 37 IIC 551 Open Google Scholar
Leistner M, Der Rechtsschutz von Datenbanken im deutschen und europäischen Recht: eine Untersuchung zur Richtlinie 96/9/EG und zur Umsetzung in das deutsche Urheberrechtsgesetz (Beck 2000) 372 Open Google Scholar
Leistner M, ‘The Protection of Databases’ in Derclaye E (ed) Research Handbook on the Future of EU Copyright (Edward Elgar 2009) 427 Open Google Scholar
Leistner M, ‘Big Data in the Digital Economy: Legal Concepts and Tools’ in Lohsse S, Schulze R and Staudenmayer D (eds), Trading Data in the Digital Economy: Legal Concepts and Tools Münster Colloquia on EU Law and the Digital Economy III (Nomos 2017) 27 Open Google Scholar
Malgieri G, ‘‘User-provided personal content’ in the EU: digital currency between data protection and intellectual property’ (2018) 32 (1) IRLCT 118 Open Google Scholar
Metzger A and others, ‘Data-Related Aspects of the Digital Content Directive’ (2018) 9 (1) JIPITEC 90 Open Google Scholar
Purtova N, ‘The Law of Everything. Broad Concept of Personal Data and Future of EU Data Protection Law’ (2018) 10 (1) LIT 40 Open Google Scholar
Scudiero L, ‘Bringing Your Data Everywhere: A Legal Reading of the Right to Portability’ (2017) 3 (1) EDPL 119 Open Google Scholar
Swire P and Lagos Y, ‘Why the Right to Data Portability Likely Reduces Consumer Welfare: Antitrust and Privacy Critique’ (2013) 72 MdLRev 335 Open Google Scholar
Urquhart L, Sailaja N and McAuley D, ‘Realising the Right to Data Portability for the Domestic Internet of Things’ (2017) <https://ssrn.com/abstract=2933448> accessed 28 March 2018 Open Google Scholar
Ursic H, ‘Unfolding the New-Born Right to Data Portability: Four Gateways to Data Subject Control’ (2018) SCRIPT-ed (forthcoming) <https://ssrn.com/abstract=3176820> accessed 29 June 2018 Open Google Scholar
Van der Auwermeulen B, ‘How to Attribute the Right to Data Portability in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Legislations’ (2017) 33 (1) CLSR 57 Open Google Scholar
Vanberg AD and Ünver MB, ‘The Right to Data Portability in the GDPR and EU Competition Law: Odd Couple or Dynamic Duo?’ (2017) 8 (1) EJLT Open Google Scholar
Veil W, ‘Artikel 20 – Recht auf Datenübertragbarkeit’ in Gierschmann S and others Kommentar Datenschutzgrundverordnung (Bundesanzeiger 2018) 590 Open Google Scholar
Voigt P and von dem Bussche A, The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A Practical Guide (Springer 2017) Open Google Scholar
Zanfir G, ‘The right to Data Portability in the Context of the EU Data Protection Reform’ (2012) 2 IDPL 149 Open Google Scholar
Zech H, ‘A Legal Framework for a Data Economy in the European Digital Single Market: Rights to Use Data’ (2016) 11 (6) JIPLP 460 Open Google Scholar