EU data law and the digital economy: public and private profiling 63rd London-Leiden meeting

About the conference 

EU data law and the digital economy: public and private profiling the 63rd London-Leiden meeting

For some years now, the EU’s efforts to regulate the use of data has been intensifying. This is a complex exercise as data is Janus-faced: data subjects have a right to the protection of their personal data on the one hand, but at the same time such data is a valuable resource both for economic operators as well as public authorities. In this conference, speakers will discuss private and public use of personal data in the EU, addressing the questions of to what extent EU law permits digital identification in the private and public spheres, and under what conditions.

With regard to private profiling, data may be held by some corporations when its dissemination would enhance economic welfare and the provision of public services. In this context, the use of “data sovereignty agreements”, whereby municipal authorities secure access to data generated by corporations through contractual agreements, is an imaginative example of how the generation of data can be managed to serve the public interest. The policy of developing EU data spaces is a means to foster innovation, strategic autonomy, and a swathe of public interests. More prosaically, the EU's Data Act stimulates the exchange of data between corporations. This ambitious legislative effort needs to be put in order. Is there consistency across the EU’s increasing number of data laws?  Are personality rights being sacrificed at the altar of the EU's industrial policy? Is the governance of data well designed?

In the public sphere, authorities may also capture personal data for public policy, security, and criminal justice purposes. Such compelling objectives point towards affording relevant public authorities broad discretion in their use of data. Yet, this infringes on the fundamental rights of individuals. Profiling demonstrates this predicament: on the one hand, it may be an indispensable tool in the prevention, detection, and investigation of serious crime and terrorism. On the other hand, profiling could reinforce discrimination, both at the individual and systemic levels. How has the EU legislature sought to balance such competing interests? In the face of continuous technological developments, is the legal framework workable in practice? Is the judiciary well-placed to consider such complex issues?  Where the Court of Justice has offered detailed guidance on the use of personal data by public authorities, this has proven highly contentious. This forms part of a broader debate about the very nature of the EU – the extent to which EU law can or should interfere with its Members’ core state activities/national security in the name of fundamental rights protection, and how assertive it should be in doing so vis-à-vis third countries.

Conference speakers
Giovanni De Gregorio (Católica Global School of Law)

Anastasia Iliopoulou-Penot (University Paris Panthéon-Assas)

Wolfgang Kerber (Philipps-University Marburg)

Herke Kranenborg (Maastricht University)

Inge Graef (Tilburg University)

Nadya Purtova (Utrecht University)

Stefaan van den Bogaert (Leiden University)

Target audience
Generalist audience with an EU law background;

Legal experts specialising in data protection and digital economy

Level
Mixed.

Remote attendance      
Unfortunately, remote attendance is not available for this conference.

Do you have any questions?
We will gladly answer them.

E-mail: pao@law.leidenuniv.nl
Phone: +31 (0)71 527 8666
All contact details

Academiegebouw

Rapenburg 67-73, 2311GJ LEIDEN

Attendance to this conference is free of charge.