Can the GDPR Make Data Flow for Research Easier? Yes it Can! By Differentiating!

Against the common perception of data protection as a road-block, we demonstrate that the GDPR can work as a research enabler. This study demonstrates that European data pro- tection law’s regulatory pillars, the first related to the protection of the fundamental right to data protection and the second regarding the promotion of the free flow of personal data, result into an architecture of layered data protection regimes, which come to tighten or re- lax data subjects’ rights and data protection safeguards vis à vis processing activities differ- ently grounded in public or merely economic interests. Each of the identified data protection regimes shape different “enabling regulatory spots” for the processing of sensitive personal data for research purposes.