17 June 2021
A Hidden Revolution
European data protection law has become (in-)famously known as one of the main tools for both the European legislature and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to push the boundaries of European integration. The most recent decision of the Court in Case C-645/19, 15 June 2021 – Facebook Ireland continues this well-established tradition. What may at first glance appear as a rather technical ruling might initiate a hidden revolution and lead to an unprecedented step for the ever-closer integration of the EU’s legal order. Continue reading >>
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30 November 2020
The Sorrows of Scraping for Science
Access to data is an overall challenge for researchers when investigating social media platforms' content moderation policies and practices. Researchers need empirical evidence to ground their arguments and public interest research. Platforms have not only not providing data, but are, in fact, further restricting access. Both platforms and governments should make an effort to improve on the availability of data for research, and, to this end, clarify the law in this space. Continue reading >>
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15 April 2020
Data crossing borders
The cross-border sharing of personal data to combat coronavirus raises questions under the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the GDPR) - two of which will be dealt with here. The first question is whether EU data protection law is flexible enough to allow the international sharing of personal data to fight the pandemic. Secondly, data protection law has traditionally been shaped by pivotal events in history (think of the effect that the reaction to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 had on data protection law), and one can ask what implications the crisis will have on the future development of data transfer regulation. Continue reading >>
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25 June 2019
Where Citizenship Law and Data Protection Law Converge
Becoming a citizen of a country is a noteworthy event. But in light of increasing concerns over the protection of personal data, states face questions regarding the necessity of formal publication of the personal data of their new citizens. A closer look at Member States' practices reveals radical discrepancies between the national approaches taken across the EU. Continue reading >>
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16 August 2015
Data Protection in the US and the EU: the Case for Federal Solutions
Which level is better placed to provide efficient data protection – the federal or the state level? This question is topical both in the United States and in the European Union. In the US, there are concerns regarding the increased fragmentation of American data privacy law and the lack of relevant federal consolidation. In the EU, the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) supposed to replace the Directive of 1995 was met with opposition regarding the “over-centralization of powers” in the European institutions. Continue reading >>
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