User-friendly and legally compliant implementation of data provider rights and data trustee obligations
Overview
‘Bridge-Up’ is a project funded by the BMBF and carried out jointly by the ZMDT (represented by the Specht-Riemenschneider Chair prior to 1 February) and Fraunhofer IESE.
Project duration: October 2023 - September 2025
Objective
The Bridge-Up project focuses primarily on the process of transferring sensitive data via a data trustee model. Concepts are drawn up collaboratively and solutions are developed to ensure the user-friendly and legally compliant implementation of data providers’ rights and data trustees’ obligations. The aim is to lay the foundations for data providers to participate in trust-based models on a self-determined basis, whilst ensuring compliance with general data protection law, the Data Governance Act and the protection of trade secrets.
Project results
The project faced three challenges:
The project dealt with three main challenges. Data trustees face a complex legal framework resulting from a combination of EU legal acts - such as the GDPR and DGA - and national laws, which creates a landscape that is difficult to navigate. In addition, there is a lack of clear specifications for technical and organizational implementation. Consequently, this requires interventions in technical and organizational processes, for example through adaptations to the underlying data model. Finally, a user-friendly design must be established to ensure the appropriate exercise of rights by data subjects and data providers.
Achieving these objectives required four closely interlinked components:
To achieve the goals, four closely intertwined building blocks were required. The first block involves legal assessment and classification to ensure full regulatory compliance. The second focuses on use cases and user interfaces to create an intuitive experience. The third block encompasses technical implementation, while the fourth provides document templates to maximize operational efficiency. Together, these four components empower data trustees to fulfill data provider rights and trustee duties in a compliant, user-friendly, technically sound, and efficient manner.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.