Interpreting GDPR Through the Blockchain Lens

Blockchain researcher Christian Wirth shares his findings on the intersection of blockchain technology and the EU GDPR

Christian Wirth has been researching in the blockchain field since 2013, previously working as Senior Blockchain Architect for IBM. Michael Kolain is a Legal Scholar, Author, and Public Speaker focusing on the regulation of new technologies.

Together, they published the paper “Privacy by Blockchain Design” to bring law and computer science closer together to find a common language between both industries with regards to data protection, particularly the European Union General Data Protection Regulation.

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation presents one of the, if not the most advanced, changes in data privacy regulation for the last two decades. Its primary purpose is to define equal data protection laws for all member countries across the European Union and recommends to “translate” those regulations into standardization and certification seals.

We sat down with Christian Wirth to discuss his findings on the intersection of blockchain technology and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation.

There are cultural differences in the perception of protecting personal data.

Firstly, we have at least a global problem, in which different cultures and different regions have a different perception of what personal data is and also a different attitude towards it. As far as I understand, the American and maybe even British opinion on the topic is that any kind of data, including personal, is like a resource that is out there to be harvested, like a tree. So, if you own the land the tree grows upon, you have the right to chop it down and use its resources to your benefit.

The European attitude, however, which we see reflected in the GDPR, is strongly influenced by the German and Austrian views on data protection and privacy protection. Most likely, due to recent history in the last century, the latter has built a high awareness of what can go wrong if you have too much public data out there and when everything is common knowledge. Europeans have seen the potential for abuse of power that comes with collecting copious amounts of sensitive information.

At the moment in Europe, the political and legal trends think along the lines of data ownership in the digital world. Every individual, whenever they generate personal data by living and transporting those facts into the digital world, or at least by reflecting those things that happen in reality into the digital world, are therefore creating data in value. The million-dollar question is: “Who has the right to harness this value of the data? Who has control over it?”

There presents the current international disagreement.

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