Publication: Regulating Personal Data: Data Models and Digital Services Trade
Date
2021-03
ISSN
Published
2021-03
Author(s)
Ferracane, Martina Francesca
van der Marel, Erik
Abstract
While regulations on personal data
diverge widely between countries, it is nonetheless possible
to identify three main models based on their distinctive
features: one model based on open transfers and processing
of data, a second model based on conditional transfers and
processing, and third a model based on limited transfers and
processing. These three data models have become a reference
for many other countries when defining their rules on the
cross-border transfer and domestic processing of personal
data. The study reviews their main characteristics and
systematically identifies for 116 countries worldwide to
which model they adhere for the two components of data
regulation (i.e. cross-border transfers and domestic
processing of data). In a second step, using gravity
analysis, the study estimates whether countries sharing the
same data model exhibit higher or lower digital services
trade compared to countries with different regulatory data
models. The results show that sharing the open data model
for cross-border data transfers is positively associated
with trade in digital services, while sharing the
conditional model for domestic data processing is also
positively correlated with trade in digital services.
Country-pairs sharing the limited model, instead, exhibit a
double whammy: they show negative trade correlations
throughout the two components of data regulation. Robustness
checks control for restrictions in digital services, the
quality of digital infrastructure, as well as for the use of
alternative data sources.
Citation
“Ferracane, Martina Francesca; van der Marel, Erik. 2021. Regulating Personal Data: Data Models and Digital Services Trade. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9596. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35308 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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