A ‘right to data portability’ would not contribute to the protection of personal data and should be kept out of the regulation. This was stated by Marielle Gallo, the opinion rapporteur on the Data Protection regulation in the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI). Ecommerce Europe supports this opinion.
Gallo’s opinion on data portability is in line with Ecommerce Europe’s position, which also questions the usefulness of the provision. Ecommerce Europe thinks that the creation of such a right would discourage companies from implementing innovative services because sensitive commercial information would be transmitted to competitors. Imposing a right to portability could also lead to additional costs for businesses since companies would have to develop new systems for data management.
In her opinion report, Gallo decided to denounce the ‘right to data portability’ for two reasons. Firstly, Gallo believes that the right of access to personal data is a key provision within the regulation. Data portability, on the other hand, is not a key provision and will not contribute to data protection. Secondly, Gallo stated that requiring data portability would hurt innovative services of companies when the sharing of personal data will be mandatory.
The Parliament’s JURI committee welcomed Gallo’s report, as did rapporteur Jan Philipp Albrecht from the leading LIBE committee. Albrecht will incorporate Gallo’s report into the final report. The deadline for Members of the European Parliament to amend to Ms. Gallo’s report in JURI is 28 November.
