Author: Ryan Brewer, J.D Candidate, Class of 2014, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
The Cardozo IP & Information Law Program kicked off its fall 2012 IP Speaker Series with a presentation by Professor Peter Swire. Professor Swire teaches at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University and is a national and global leader on privacy, cybersecurity, and related technology issues. In his third appearance at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Professor Swire discussed his upcoming article: The Right to Data Portability: Is This New Privacy Right Contrary to Antitrust Law?
Professor Swire focuses his discussion on the January 2012 draft of proposed reforms to the European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive that was put in place seventeen years ago. The proposal places the Right to Data Portability (RDP) amongst other fundamental human rights recognized within the EU and creates RDP for all EU citizens. More specifically, RDP creates a right in every user to obtain, in a “widely–used format,” a copy of his or her own electronic data that is “undergoing processing.” The regulation also creates a right to manipulate this data and export it “without hindrance.”
Professor Swire contends that this regulation was created with major Internet companies in mind—such as Facebook—and without consideration of the unintended and highly detrimental effects it would have on small businesses and consumers. Professor Swire provided the example of Facebook, which received criticism for many years over its control of users’ information. Previously, Facebook did not offer an export–import module (EIM) that would allow users to remove or export user material (e.g. photos, posts, contact lists) from the site. Furthermore, it was unclear which information a Facebook user had a right to—comments, liked pages, and photos in which the user was tagged were not necessarily considered the user’s own data. Prior to the passage of this regulation, Facebook responded to the criticism by creating its own EIM that allows a user to control his or her data in a manner that generally complies with the new right.
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The views expressed here are exclusively of the author and do not represent agreement or endorsement by the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, or Yeshiva University.
