Non-Personal Data Regulation – A Latin American Perspective

Abstract

Abstract This paper argues in favor of non-personal data regulation in Latin America as a way of helping the digital economy reach its full potential in the region. While overall there are significant improvements regarding personal data, there is a vacuum in terms of data that does not allow the identification of any individual person, either because it is not initially related to a data subject or because it was anonymized. Drawing from data economics, the paper argues that countries in Latin America should regulate non-personal data because of the winner-takes-all dynamics of data markets, the importance of having control over non-personal data for local companies, and to try and balance the scales. In particular, the paper addresses three issues to be regulated, namely property vs. access to non-personal data, cross-border data flows, and data standardization.