OWNERSHIP OF PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Area of Science:

• Legal Studies
• Information Science
• Digital Law

Background:

• Judicial attitudes toward personal information ownership are inconsistent.
• The digital age necessitates a re-evaluation of ownership principles for personal data.
• Existing legal frameworks often conflate property and privacy rights concerning personal information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if personal information can be owned under current legal doctrines.
• To clarify the applicability of property law principles to digital personal information.
• To analyze the interplay between property rights and informational privacy rights.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of foundational tenets of ownership within property law.
• Examination of judicial precedents and legal theory.
• Distinction between general personal information and specific digital instances (files).

Main Results:

• Personal information generally does not meet ownership criteria.
• Specific digital instances, like computer files, are susceptible to ownership.
• The first to exercise control over a new information instance with intent to own becomes the owner.

Conclusions:

• Ownership of personal information should be analyzed through property law, not privacy law.
• Data subject privacy rights act as a limitation on property rights.
• This framework is essential for governing digital personal information.