In the past few years personal data protection has become a major issue. As data is gathered at an unprecedented scale, that data is used to generate profit and often manipulate users, and has led to data breaches that have caused great harm. Are data rights now human rights?
Yes, data rights are human rights
Just like privacy is a human right, personal data should be considered private and only given out at the user's discretion. No one would expect it to be okay to steal someone's social security number, for example, so why is personal data any different? Data rights are human rights because we have a right to keep our personal lives and information private.
Under the view of the ECHR everyone has the right to a private life
No, data rights are seperate from and different than human rights
Data is not meant to be kept private. Just like public records are available for anyone to obtain, data is similar in that it is easily accessible to anyone who knows how to get it. It is also a commodity, as users often buy or sell data for various purposes. Data rights are different than human rights, because they are just like public records and information.
