Professor Ikukai of Hitotsubashi University highlighted an interesting-looking paper in an X post.
https://twitter.com/ikegai/status/1813602566279950338
The paper introduced there is as follows.
Alexandra Giannopoulou, Jef Ausloos, Sylvie Delacroix, Heleen Janssen, Intermediating data rights exercises: the role of legal mandates, International Data Privacy Law, Volume 12, Issue 4, November 2022, Pages 316–331, https://doi.org/10.1093/idpl/ipac017
I discussed Trusted Data Intermediaries at last year’s IGF, and this seemed like a related topic. The principal points appear to be as follows.
Key Points
Introduction
- Rapid technological and economic development has created asymmetries of information and power.
- Data rights are emancipatory legal tools for mitigating these asymmetries.
Data Rights and Their Importance
- Data rights are growing in importance and emerging as a means of empowerment.
- Chapter III of the GDPR is the principal legal source concerning data-subject rights.
- Data rights include access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection, and protection against automated decision-making.
Data Rights Intermediaries (DRIs)
- DRIs facilitate or intermediate the collective exercise of data rights.
- Data rights may be delegated to DRIs without undermining their fundamental, inalienable character for data subjects.
- Delegation enables DRIs to act on behalf of data subjects in various contexts.
Legal Framework for Delegating Data Rights
- Ambiguities exist concerning the delegation of data rights under the GDPR and Data Governance Act.
- Delegation resembles a contract and must follow principles of contract law and fiduciary duties.
Importance of Fiduciary Duties and Regulation
- Fiduciary duties may provide a framework for DRI operations.
- Delegation must be clear and specific and linked to institutional oversight.
Effects of System Transparency and Compliance Issues
- Systemic problems obstruct the fair and effective exercise of data rights.
- DRIs can help data subjects overcome technical, legal, and financial barriers.
- The collective exercise of data rights has the potential to overcome systemic injustice.
Conclusion
- Delegating data rights to DRIs could be an important step toward resolving data-driven social injustice.
- Robust legal and institutional frameworks are needed to ensure effective and accountable DRIs.
Explainer Video: The Importance and Legal Characteristics of Personal Data Rights Intermediaries at the OECD and Elsewhere—How Do You Exercise Your Rights Over Your Data?
I made a NoLang explainer video about this. I hope you will watch it.
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