Sneak Peek Into Europe’s Digital Future
Accessible Data and Private Digital Identities
It’s no secret that the European Union (EU) has the ambition of becoming a global leader and standard setter in technology. Over the past legislative mandate, Brussels has strengthened its tech-savviness and launched a debate that has visibly evolved: just five years ago, apps captured everyone’s attention and Europe’s data protection framework was still being negotiated. Today, a fully-fledged General Data Protection Regulation works as the foundation for the EU’s tech policies and gives lawmakers the resources to advocate for the adoption of its regulatory standards at a global level. Europe is now ready and keen to discuss more complex technologies and challenges looking beyond the personal data regime.
In November, Weber Shandwick attended the two-day High-Level Conference on the data economy in Helsinki, Finland. Intense conversations among key EU policymakers and industry representatives hinted at the next hot items on Europe’s agenda. As the debate progressively focuses on the interplay between personal and non-personal data, wider data sharing and digital identity technologies are likely to gain the spotlight in the years to come.
Fairer Business-to-Business Data Sharing
EU policymakers noted one massive obstacle in digital markets: data is not shared across the chain, meaning businesses do not get access to the information they help create. For instance, vendors selling on online marketplaces do not have access to users’ purchase data collected by the platforms. Service providers in the automotive industry –maintenance and road assistance, for example — cannot leverage cars’ data that stay in the hands of manufacturers. And without access to data, the playing field won’t be levelled, hampering Europe’s digital growth.
Besides those sectors that are more commonly discussed (like transport or energy), data sharing challenges emerging in copyright-based industries — music, publishing and online gaming — offer an interesting perspective. Now that the copyright debate has moved from Brussels to national capitals, music creators see themselves in conflict with labels, publishing companies and performance rights organisations over sharing of performance data. According to the creators, the currently low level of data sharing prevents them from improving their content and, ultimately, monetising it.
Gaining greater access to consumers can be a way to gather data about their preferences and choices while avoiding feeding information to intermediaries. However, the European Commission doubts that non-regulatory measures can fix market inequalities, and it is considering hard rules to organise business-to-business access and sharing of data.
Digital Identity: Opportunities and Threats
While access to non-personal data is paramount for businesses, processing personal data for commercial purposes has become harder. Citizens’ information must be shielded behind layers of protection, even more so in the context of innovative technologies. Among them, the complexity of digital identity technologies is catching the attention of both the public and the private sectors.
Digital identity is the internet equivalent of the real identity of a person or entity when used for identification in connections or transactions from PCs, cell phones or other personal devices. Digital identities are scattered over the internet: for instance, social media retain only information on social identity, while browsers build it over search and browsing data. A scheme that is able to unify them and allow smooth authentication and access to services has the potential to revolutionise the digital space.
As digital identity requires new improved privacy infrastructures, regulators are starting to look into its implications for ethics, privacy and cybersecurity, as well as its links with the development of blockchain. Businesses, on the other side, perceive its potential to revolutionise the market and see it as an exciting business opportunity.
Although the technology is still in early stages of development, privacy and security concerns linked to concentration of data in the cloud and data centres have already been raised. Distributed models could help alleviate these concerns: data will be deemed protected only when stored locally, rather than centrally, in large data spaces or the cloud. However, blockchain is considered as only one among many solutions to digital identity needs.
What’s Next?
Although there is still little information on the timing for potential EU legislative proposals, the preparatory work is ongoing.
Throughout 2019, the Commission gathered evidence on business-to-business data sharing practices and will receive an expert report on how data is shared with public authorities. As the EU believes that access to data will be instrumental for a functioning AI market, its AI strategy touches upon it, while the Coordinated Action Plan on AI, aimed to consolidate national initiatives, entails the creation of a European Data Space for greater pooling and access to data.
So far, Europe has looked at the public dimension of its citizens’ digital identity and has set up a scheme for cross-border electronic identification and access to public services. However, the debate is evolving: there is an interest to expand e-ID rules to private sectors and services (such as financial services), to understand digital identity enabling technologies (like blockchain) and tackle the privacy and cyber challenges these raise. Ultimately, the EU will look with interest at aspects of data ownership, as it seeks to realise its ideal of a human-centric digital economy.
The EU is committed to strengthening its role in the digital space and the new European Commission leadership (in particular, Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner Thierry Breton) is tasked with building its technological sovereignty through a comprehensive data strategy for Europe and new competition rules.
As their priorities are being established, there are high stakes to enter early in the game, even more so considering that new tech rules will be horizontal and cross-sectoral. Right now, businesses have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to contribute to the forming of the new generation of digital rules, in Europe and beyond.
If you would like any further information on this issue, please contact Stephen Jackson at stephen.jackson@webershandwick.com.
Article edited by Chris Hershey
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