Following the invitation of the Federal Association of German Industries (BDI), Project Reporter Christiane Wendehorst presented the Principles for a Data Economy carried out by the American Law Institute (ALI) and ELI. The current draft of the Principles was last discussed at the ELI Annual Conference in September 2020. In the course of her presentation, Christiane Wendehorst provided the Legal Committee with an overview of the Principles, which deal with different types of contracts and rights of different actors in regard to data in the data economy.

The following discussion with the members of the Legal Committee revolved, among other aspects, around the different ways to provide data (eg, complete transfer of data or mere access to data in a protected environment). The second part of the Principles formulates five types of contracts to cover the various ways data can be provided (eg, ‘contracts for the transfer of data’, ‘contracts for access to data’). Furthermore, the importance of data trustees was once again emphasised in the discussion. Data trustees can make a significant contribution to better management of and added value from data, and in particular give individuals more control over their personal data (eg, via so-called Personal Information Management Systems).

Project Reporters Christiane Wendehorst and Neil Cohen are currently working on the second Council Draft, which will be presented at the ALI Council Meeting in January 2021.