Public Sector Information & Data Protection: A Plea for Personal Privacy Settings for the Re-Use of PSI

Abstract

Already in the year 2000, the total value of the European public sector information (PSI) was estimated to be around 68 billion euro annually. To ensure that at least a part of this potential is utilized, the re-use of public sector information is encouraged in Europe through the PSI Directive of 2003, although it has to be said that it does not entail any obligation for public sector organizations to disseminate such information. It is important to distinguish between the right of access to governmental information and the right to re-use. The ratio behind rules ensuring access to governmental information is mainly linked to democracy and control on governmental power; re-use is primarily important for commercial interest.

Keywords: PSI, public sector information, re-use, privacy, data protection