Guidance on the free flow of non-personal data (Communication)

Key points

The EESC recommends that the Commission:

• provide clear and simple information on the criteria for defining non-personal data and the scope of the Regulation on a framework for the free flow of non-personal data (the Free Flow of Non-Personal Data Regulation) in order to remove uncertainty and increase confidence;
• inform actors about overlaps between EU data legislation;
• while promoting free movement, ensure that personal data do not gradually come to be seen as non-personal data and that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) retains its full scope, if necessary merging the two regulations in the medium term for the purposes of stronger data protection rather than increased commodification of data;
• help Europeans in the very short term to use algorithms capable of processing the vast amounts of non-personal data in the single market for data; encourage the Member States to improve lifelong education in the areas of IT and artificial intelligence (AI) at all levels (school, university and work).