LeADS Working Paper Series Part IV: Data Access And Re-Use In The European Legal Framework For Data, From The GDPR To The Proposed Data Act: The Case Of Vehicle Data

In their working paper on “Data Access and Re-Use in the European Legal Framework for Data, from the GDPR to the Proposed Data Act: The Case of Vehicle Data” ESRs Tommaso Crepax, Mitisha Gaur, and Barbara Lazarotto explore the topic of data access and portability of vehicles’ black boxes, which are electronic data recorders that record a vehicle’s speed, breaking, and other information in the event of a crash. The paper centers the analysis on three main stakeholders: consumers, the public sector, and insurance companies, each having a distinct interest in data. It identifies a number of legal enablers and blockers that could affect data access and portability. The topic of this paper is closely related to the individual topics of the ESRs since it covers topics such as data sharing, access, and portability between

different public and private stakeholders, and how this data can be used to feed algorithms that will generate driver’s profiles. Furthermore, it can be considered a case study that explores the topics of Crossroad 1 “Privacy vs Intellectual Property” and of Crossroad 3 “Data Ownership”, analyzing how black box data can be accessed based on privacy regulations and how individuals can take more control of their vehicle data. The tension of Crossroad 1 becomes evident in the case of black box data in the debate over whether individuals have the right to access their own black box data, and whether companies have the right to use that data for commercial purposes. Questions related to data ownership (crossroad 3) are particularly important in the case of black box data because the data can be used to create driver profiles, which could be used for a variety of purposes, such as assessing driver risk and providing personalized safety recommendations.

The paper concludes by providing valuable insights and recommendations for enhancing data access and reuse while improving transparency and accountability in the process. The authors present a methodology for comparing and evaluating the degree of access conferred by various regulations and put it to practical use to assess how much data is currently left out from access by the existing legislation, how much of such data is covered by the Data Act, and ultimately, how much still remains inaccessible for reuse. The proposed framework can deliver on the promises of access and reuse, but there are promising research areas that have not been extensively discussed, including topics such as competition, data governance and markets, and quality of data.

Abstract of the Working Paper

This article delves into the difficulties and opportunities associated with the acquisition, sharing, and re-purposing of vehicle data, particularly information derived from black boxes used by insurance companies and event data recorders installed by manufacturers. While this data is usually utilized by insurers and car makers, the authors contend that consumers, rival firms, and public institutions may also profit from accessing the data for objectives such as data portability between insurance companies, traffic and transportation management, and the development of intelligent mobility solutions. Among other regulations, the authors examine the proposed Data Act as the European chosen champion to address the legal and technical hurdles surrounding the reuse of privately held corporate data, including privacy and intellectual property, competition, and data interoperability issues. The text also offers an overview of the sorts of data obtained through vehicle recording systems and their potential benefits for various stakeholders. The authors present a methodology for comparing and evaluating, in an ordinal fashion, the degree of access conferred by various regulations and put it to practical use to assess how much data is currently left out from access by the existing legislation, how much of such data is covered by the Data Act, and ultimately, how much still remains inaccessible for reuse.