Data regulation in the internet of things

• Author: Christoph Krönke
• Pages: 57-69

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 13 SEPTEMBER 2018 NO. 3

DOI 10.3868/s050-007-018-0028-9

SPECIAL ISSUE

PARADIGMS OF INTERNET REGULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND CHINA

DATA REGULATION IN THE INTERNET OF THINGS

Christoph Krönke∗

Abstract The reflections on data regulation in the internet of things (IoT) in this paper

provide an overview of the different conceptions and legal problems of “data property

rights.” Beginning with an overview of the existing and possible applications of the

future IoT (in particular, smart cars), this paper describes the legal concerns that may

arise because of increased commercialization of object-generated data. The author uses

German and European Union law to illustrate the legal complexities, solutions, and

shortcomings. He demonstrates how and to what extent these issues are covered by

traditional data protection regulations and highlights the conceptual blind spots of these

regulations. He then contrasts the data protection paradigm (de lege lata) with the idea

of a general erga omnes data property right (de lege ferenda) and describes the most

common understanding of such a right, that is, a data producers’ property right. Against

the background of the possible economic advantages of general data property rights, the

paper discusses conceptual problems and constitutional concerns. In conclusion, the

author rejects the idea of a general data property right.

Keywords data protection law, data property, internet of things (IOT), smart cars

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 367

I. STAKEHOLDERS AND INTERESTS ............................................................................. 369

II. THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH: DATA PROTECTION ............................................... 371

III. THE NEW APPROACH: DATA PROPERTY ................................................................ 373

A. What Would “Data Property” Mean and Why Might We Need It? ................... 373

B. Conceptual Problems and Constitutional Concerns ......................................... 375

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................ 379

INTRODUCTION

When Google’s chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt was asked about the future of the

∗ Christoph Krönke, Dr. jur., Faculty of Law, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Postdoc. (Akademischer

Rat a.Z.), Faculty of Law, LMU Munich, Munich 80539, Germany. Contact: christoph.kroenke@jura.uni-

muenchen.de