EC Proposes Data Governance Model to Take on Big Tech Platforms
New rules for data-sharing are needed as an alternative to Big Tech platforms, the European Commission said Wednesday. Its proposed data governance act aims to boost trust in sharing data, because lack of trust is now a "major obstacle" that…
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results in "high costs," it said. The regulation is the first under the EU data strategy approved earlier this year. It's "about creating the right conditions so that if people want to share data, they can do so in a trustful way," said Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager at a briefing. One key element is the creation of trustworthy intermediaries to provide basic infrastructure for data spaces. They must notify relevant authorities of their intention to provide data-sharing services, and ensure that sensitive and confidential data is safeguarded. There will be strict requirements to ensure their neutrality in connecting data holders and users. The framework offers an alternative model to the current data-handling practices offered by Big Tech, said Vestager. The principles will also apply "to us as individuals whenever we wish to share our own personal data, or donate them to serve the general interest." The act doesn't force anyone to share data. "Unjustified data transfer restrictions in themselves do not increase trust" but make it harder to do business with the world, said the Computer and Communications Industry Association. "Businesses need fewer, not more, [such] restrictions." European Digital Rights criticized the proposal for "framing everything in terms of theoretical economic benefits" for companies to the detriment of civil society goals of "moving towards a people-centric internet." The proposal "confirms the many worrying signals that Brussels has decided to pursue policies that are protectionist, discriminatory, and counterproductive," said the Center for Data Innovation. It's "as much an attempt to hobble foreign tech companies as it is an attempt to build up European ones."