The relationship between open data initiatives, privacy, and government transparency: a love triangle?

Re-use of public sector information ('PSI') has proved to be a promising means of boosting economic growth and effectiveness, and it has led governments to implement open data initiatives all over the world. The PSI Directive, as amended, promotes the re-use of PSI in EU member states but leaves national open data initiatives subject to local access to information laws and Directive 95/46/EC. Given that 'open data' and 'transparency' stem from distinct incentives and rationales as well as the fact that not all public data can be open, the concepts should not be perceived as synonyms for each other. However, open data initiatives' dependence on access to information legislation alongside the fundamental differences in member states' transparency frameworks leads to a situation where the member states having a strong transparency doctrine in place are more vulnerable to the possible privacy-harming consequences of open data. It is concluded that the differences between national access to information regimes need to be taken into account when implementing national open data initiatives and assessing related data privacy aspects and, consequently, Article 80aa of the GDPR proposed by the Council should not be adopted.