IS THE ESSENTIAL FACILITIES DOCTRINE FIT FOR ACCESS TO DATA CASES? THE DATA PROTECTION ASPECT

Abstract

Personal data can be of great economic value for companies as it is an essential input for the offering of a wide array of services. One way for a company to obtain access to essential personal data controlled by another company is by demanding mandatory access on the grounds of the essential facilities doctrine. Such access, however, can violate the right to the protection of personal data of the data subjects if it is not based on one of the legitimate grounds for the processing of personal data set by the GDPR. Two of these grounds are especially likely to be applicable to the access to personal data mandated using the essential facilities doctrine: the interpretation of the Commission decision or the judgment of the Court of Justice ordering the granting of access as a legal obligation and the legitimate interest of the company requesting access, for such access. The anonymisation of personal data is not a viable option for the circumvention of the rules of the GDPR as anonymised personal data loses most of its economic relevance for companies