Spill-Overs in Data Governance: The Relationship Between the GDPR’s Right to Data Portability and EU Sector-Specific Data Access Regimes

Abstract

A consensus is emerging that a flourishing European data economy requires effective portability of and access to data for individuals as well as businesses. Beyond the right to data portability introduced in the General Data Protection Regulation, a number of data access regimes are being developed in the energy, automotive, payment and digital content/services sectors. By comparing the key aspects of these instruments (including their objectives, scope, beneficiaries, configuration and modalities), the paper analyses the relationship of these sector-specific regimes with the right to data portability of the General Data Protection Regulation that applies to the entire economy. As such, the paper identifies possible spill-overs in order to establish a more horizontal, overarching approach to the governance of data sharing in the EU. With the rise of the Internet of Things and the digitisation of an increasing number of industries, these lessons are instrumental to reap the full potential of data from economic as well as social perspectives.