Comparative Data Law

This book contains the proceedings of the conference “Comparative Data Law”, which was held in Munich in December 2023. The increasing relevance of data is now recognized all over the world. The large number of regulatory acts and proposals in the field of data law serves as a testament to the significance of data processing for the economies of the world. The European Union’s Data Strategy, the African Union’s Data Policy Framework and the Australian Data Strategy only serve as examples within a plethora of regulatory actions. Yet, the purposeful and sensible use of data does not only play a role in economic terms, e.g. regarding the welfare or competitiveness of economies. The implications for society and the common good are at least equally relevant. For instance, data processing is an integral part of modern research methodology and can thus help to address the problems the world is facing today, such as climate change.

The conference was the third and final event of the Global Data Law Conference Series. Legal scholars from all over the world met, presented and exchanged their experiences on different data-related regulatory approaches. Various instruments and approaches to the regulation of data – personal or non-personal – were discussed, without losing sight of the global effects going hand-in-hand with different kinds of regulation.

In compiling the conference proceedings, this book does not only aim at providing a critical and analytical assessment of the status quo of data law in different countries today, it also aims at providing a forward-looking perspective on the pressing issues of our time, such as: How to promote sensible data sharing and purposeful data governance? Under which circumstances, if ever, do data localisation requirements make sense? How – and by whom – should international regulation be put in place? The proceedings engage in a discussion on future-oriented ideas and actions, thereby promoting a constructive and sensible approach to data law around the world.

Prof. Dr. Josef Drexl, LL.M. (UC Berkeley) is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich, a Honorary Professor at the University of Munich and a member of the Bavarian Academy of Science. He was the founding Chair of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) from 2003 to 2013. He acted as a visiting professor at Oxford University, the LUISS Guido Carli in Rome, the New York University and the Université de Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas. Professor Drexl is an expert in competition law, intellectual property law and data law. In his research on the digital economy, he particularly explores the legal framework of data access rights, the interface of IP and data law as well as data contract law. He also acts as an expert member of the Data Governance Working Group of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence.

Prof. Dr. Moritz Hennemann , M. Jur. (Oxon.) is a Full University Professor, holding the Chair of Private Law, Information Law, Media Law, and Internet Law, University of Freiburg Law Faculty since 2023. His research focuses on private law, business law, data law, media law, and information law, including from a comparative perspective. He holds degrees in Law from the Universities of Heidelberg (2009), Oxford (M.Jur., 2011), and Freiburg (Dr. jur., 2011). He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Freiburg (Habilitation, 2019), a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law (2023) and at the Harvard Law School (2018) as well as an affiliate to the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School (2018-2020). Between 2020 and 2023 he was holding the Chair of European and International Information Law, University of Passau Law Faculty and was Director of the University of Passau Research Centre for Law and Digitalisation.

Dr. Patricia Boshe is the head of research and publication at the Africa Digital Rights Hub (ADRH) in Accra, Ghana. Prior to that, Dr. Boshe worked as a lecturer and a senior researcher at the Research Centre for Law and Digitalisation at the University of Passau in Germany. Her publication record includes a book on data protection, four book chapters and over dozen of international referred journal articles, book reviews and practical legal comments.

Dr. Klaus Wiedemann is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. He is a qualified lawyer (2015) and holds degrees from the universities of Heidelberg (2013) and LMU Munich (Dr. jur., 2023). He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford’s Institute of European and Comparative Law (2015) and at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Law, where he was also a member of the college Trinity Hall (2024). His research focus is on the regulation of the digital economy. He is particularly interested in the question of how EU data law relates to other legal regimes, such as data protection and competition law.