Personality, property and other provocations: exploring the conceptual muddle of data protection rights under EU law

This article considers the right to data protection under EU law and examines a range conceptual and practical difficulties with which it is besieged. Particularly, the article engages with questions regarding whether the right to data protection as contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights confers on individuals proprietary or personal interests in their personal data. The article considers prominent arguments on either side of this debate and argues that there are notable flaws inherent in both. The article goes on to tentatively argue that rather than providing individuals with proprietary or personal interests in their personal data, the EU data protection framework perhaps confers upon them a different form of right entirely.