The Institute of European Studies, with sponsors from the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (BCLT) and Tübingen University Law School, was pleased to host Professor Martin Nettesheim, Professor of Law at the University of Tübingen. Professor Paul Schwartz, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, moderated the event which was attended by some 50 people, in person and online.
Nettesheim first presented the regulatory architecture that has emerged in recent years in the European Union. From the infamous General Data Protection Regulation to a new package of legal acts, wanting to moderate the market power of the data industry and the business models of digital economy companies, European institutions have never been keener on managing and regulating the data industry.
Nettesheim wanted the crowd to reflect on the position that personal data has within our new economies. Personal data seem to be an inevitable economic asset within our new economies and seeing it as a commodity from a regulatory standpoint can only be hurtful for this new industry. Nettesheim insisted that personal data protection is crucial, but also that regulations must also allow a certain level of flexibility that allows data-based companies to strive. This presentation was an opportunity to reflect on the background of this conflict as well as question the path that the European Union is taking to regulate this industry. To help the understanding of this complex topic, our public speaker gave clarifications on major elements, by giving the attendees a clear and coherent definition of personal data for example.
Finally, viewers had the opportunity to ask multiple questions on various topics, from the difference between the Californian regulation of data and the European one to the recent data concerns linked to TikTok in the United States.