Data sovereignty: New challenges for diplomacy

Abstract

The global COVID-19 health crisis has become an additional argument in the debate about data sovereignty. This debate has been brewing following a series of recent economic, political, and social scandals: WikiLeaks, Edward Snowden, Cambridge Analytica, Huawei, and TikTok, for example. Indeed, most of these scandals are related to users' personal data management by digital giants, which have benefited greatly from this crisis. Not only have their numbers and market values increased drastically, but the data industry has become the most profitable industry of all time. Therefore, data capitalism provides these businesses with powers that they should not possess. The objective of this research is to understand the impact data sovereignty has on the current geopolitical situation, using a theoretical analytical approach. This approach includes three stakeholders: the citizens, the state, and large firms. In this vein, the article is organized into three parts: The first part covers data's growing value, starting with the advent of algorithms while also touching on data capitalism. The second part concerns the economy of mass surveillance and its risks. Finally, the third part examines what data sovereignty means, thereby shedding light on its current issues and how it can be optimally dealt with in the long term.