News and Research articles on Business

Transnational collective actions for cross-border data protection violations

Federica Casarosa, European University Institute
PUBLISHED ON: 16 Sep 2020 DOI: 10.14763/2020.3.1498

Although the GDPR paves the way for a coordinated EU-wide legal action against data protection infringements, only a reform of private international law rules can enhance the opportunities of data subjects to enforce their rights.

Anchoring the need to revise cross-border access to e-evidence

Sergi Vazquez Maymir, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
PUBLISHED ON: 16 Sep 2020 DOI: 10.14763/2020.3.1495

The percentages and figures used in the impact assessment accompanying the European Commission’s e-evidence package strongly influence the analysis of the problem and limit the assessment of the problem of cross-border access to e-evidence to technical and efficiency considerations.

Going global: Comparing Chinese mobile applications’ data and user privacy governance at home and abroad

Lianrui Jia, University of Toronto
Lotus Ruan, University of Toronto
PUBLISHED ON: 16 Sep 2020 DOI: 10.14763/2020.3.1502

This paper examines data and privacy governance by four China-based mobile applications and their international versions - including the role of the state. It also highlights the role of platforms in gatekeeping mobile app privacy standards.

Data subjects as data controllers: a Fashion(able) concept?

Lilian Edwards, Newcastle University
Michèle Finck, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Michael Veale, University College London
Nicolo Zingales, Tilburg University

PUBLISHED ON: 13 Jun 2019

Recent case-law of the European Court of Justice has substantially widened the notion of “data controller" in unclear and potentially onerous ways for a range of actors involved in personal data processing. This has worrying implications for data subjects who may be characterised as controllers, and for emergent decentralised and privacy protective technologies.

Zero rating has emerged as one of the most contentious communications policy debates of the last decade. The offer of ‘free’ access to select applications compromises network neutrality, at the same time as it can present advantages to users with limited economic resources. How can we attempt to reconcile these conflicting dimensions of zero rating?

The importance of personal data for the digital economy accentuates a problematic information asymmetry between consumers and the data-driven market players. An increased consumer protection would have to deal with the lack of transparency of this black-box setup and a flawed use of consent as regulatory model. The consumer protection needs to be improved in practice, in its implementation, not only in its policy.

Towards responsive regulation of the Internet of Things: Australian perspectives

Megan Richardson, The University of Melbourne
Rachelle Bosua, The University of Melbourne
Karin Clark, The University of Melbourne
Jeb Webb, The University of Melbourne
Atif Ahmad, The University of Melbourne
Sean Maynard, The University of Melbourne
PUBLISHED ON: 14 Mar 2017 DOI: 10.14763/2017.1.455

This paper is part of Australian internet policy, a special issue of Internet Policy Review guest-edited by Angela Daly and Julian Thomas. Acknowledgement: Thanks to the Melbourne Networked Society Institute at the University of Melbourne for funding our research project ‘The Internet of Things (IoT) and Consumer Privacy’, 2015-2016, and to our participants for generously sharing their experiences and concerns about the IoT. Some of the information and ideas in this article draw on Richardson et al., 2016. Introduction Collaboration, networking and innovation are predicted to change radically as we move into an era of the Internet of Things (IoT). One of the fastest-growing trends in …

Australian internet policy

Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology
Julian Thomas, RMIT University
PUBLISHED ON: 14 Mar 2017 DOI: 10.14763/2017.1.457

Papers in this special issue Introducing Australian internet policy: problems and prospects Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Julian Thomas, RMIT University, Australia The passage of Australia’s data retention regime: national security, human rights, and media scrutiny Nicolas Suzor, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Kylie Pappalardo, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Natalie McIntosh, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Computer network operations and ‘rule-with-law’ in Australia Adam Molnar, Deakin University, Australia Christopher Parsons, Citizen Lab, Canada Erik Zouave, KU Leuven, Belgium Internet accessibility and …

Private ordering and the rise of terms of service as cyber-regulation

Luca Belli, Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School
Jamila Venturini, Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School
PUBLISHED ON: 29 Dec 2016 DOI: 10.14763/2016.4.441

Internet intermediaries unilaterally define their terms of service (ToS) and enforce them privately by shaping the architectures of the networks and platforms under their control. Based on empirical evidence, Belli and Venturini argue that ToS and their implementation affect users’ rights.