The GSMA has responded to the European Commission’s consultation exploring emerging issues relating to the data economy, such as the free flow of data, access to and re-use of non-personal machine-generated data, as well as portability, interoperability and standards. The consultation, which is part of a wider fact-finding mission and dialogue to better understand all aspects of the emerging data economy, will inform the policy choices taken by the European Commission in the future.
The GSMA believes the free flow of data across borders will enable organisations to enhance their operational and innovation capabilities. Enabling cross-border data transfers can help organisations adopt data-driven digital transformation strategies that ultimately benefit individuals and society. Restrictions that would force data to be kept locally should only be imposed where absolutely necessary and only in a measured way.
With respect to access to and reuse of data, the GSMA believes it is important to strike a delicate balance between stimulating competition, protecting consumers’ privacy and providing incentives to invest and innovate. Data is a critical asset for competing in the economy. Given the variety of data and its markets, the GSMA supports a case-by-case approach under existing competition law. Authorities need to take into account:
- the way data is collected, stored and processed,
- the complexity of business models based on the usage of data assets,
- the ease of replicability,
- whether the scale/scope of data collection matters and
- how all the relevant competitive features in data-driven markets interplay.
The GSMA cautions against a per se portability right, binding standards or regulated and standardised contracts governing portability which would choke off investment and innovation incentives, and have negative consequences for commercial interests, intellectual property, trade secrets and security. For security reasons, for example, relationships between owners and operators of sensors and mobile networks are subject to conditions and safeguards. Mandating the portability of data generated in the context of this relationship could lead to inappropriate use and have a negative market impact. Therefore, contractual freedom between all parties involved in the provision of IoT services should be maintained.
Whilst immediate legislative action is not in sight, the European Commission will continue gathering information and might present measures to lower barriers to data flows by the autumn.
The GSMA views on the data economy can be downloaded here.