DATA SOVEREIGNTYISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN A CROSS-BORDER DATA TRANSFER

The topic of Data Sovereignty of citizens/residents is going to see more conflicts as Governments and Internet Businesses both realize the value of data and informed Citizens are equally skeptical to give it to either of them for the preservation of their Privacy

In 2006, Clive Humby, the British mathematician, data scientist and entrepreneur, is credited to have said, “Data is the new oil”. Today, we are in a “Digital Age” where data is more valuable than ever. Just as the global manufacturing industry a half-century ago learned to adapt to an age of automation, companies today are learning to adapt to an age of digitization. In all the areas of business, we have learned to harness the power of the data to understand customer needs, develop new products, improve business processes, increase revenue and profitability. We have also learned to accept the necessity of constantly collecting and analyzing our inputs and results. We can collectively call these inputs and results, “Data”.

While some may disagree with the statement that “Data is the new oil”, it is true that all top companies globally and even Governments base their decision-making on data. Data sovereignty is the idea of data being subject to the laws and governance structures within the country where it is being collected - in contrast to Data being governed by the Laws and Governance structures of the country where it is stored or processed or where the company storing the data is incorporated.

Let me share three key recent developments in Hong Kong- China, India and EU regarding Data Sovereignty.

Three Recent Developments in HK (China), EU and India

1. On 7 July 2020, TikTok said it would exit the Hong Kong market within days, while other technology companies, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google, Zoom and Twitter, suspended processing (Chinese/HongKong) government requests for user data in the region over Beijing’s new security laws.

2. On 16 July 2020, the Court of Justice (of the European Union) invalidated the Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield.