Breaking the Silo: Operationalizing Trust in the European Health Data Space

The European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation enables the secure sharing of health data, unlocking a wide range of valuable applications from continuous health monitoring, to digital twins, and precision health. To ensure that this sharing is both effective and efficient, the EHDS must be deployed on secure and trustworthy architectures. However, this presents a substantial challenge for two main reasons: (i) health data may originate from or be sent to untrusted devices (such as end-user smartphones), and (ii) while the EHDS establishes the legal framework for security, it does not provide concrete technical specifications to enforce it. Building on the technical work of the xShare project and its "Yellow Button" mechanism, we propose a data sharing framework that translates European data protection obligations (e.g., GDPR) into actionable technical controls. These controls encompass encryption, pseudonymization, secure coding practices, and auditability. The result is a operational model for implementing trust for the EHDS.