Data at the Boundaries of European Law

This book investigates the different boundaries that shape digital lawmaking in Europe. It explores different layers of decision-making—national, supranational, transnational—that weave together personal data and data-driven techniques which then have differential impacts upon legal relationships and governance. In this data-driven field, the boundaries between the technical and the legal domains can be blurred, and technology may sometimes replace the law. European lawyers and other scholars struggle to keep up with technological developments while at the same time ensuring that law and its changing boundaries take account of the realities of data-driven technology. This collection of chapters by a number of leading legal scholars—and one political scientist—based in Europe is distinctive in that its focus is not only on the GDPR or new legislation. Rather the focus across all chapters is on data access, use, and sharing, mainly by public authorities. The book also zooms in on the institutional choices that make Europe an international actor and a relevant interlocutor in the area of data-driven governance. While the book sheds particular light on specific issues that are or may well be grounded in specific EU regulations, it also looks beyond the boundaries of the EU. This is because the market on data is global, with many data providers and intermediaries located outside Europe and subject to the law of other jurisdictions. For this reason, the book also explores significant theoretical and legal debates arising in the area of data governance globally.