The exploitation of Business Register data from a public sector information and data protection perspective: A case study

Business Registers (BRs) are a very important information resource for investors, creditors, financial institutions and public authorities. The possibility to aggregate and interconnect these data at a European level could enhance the transparency of companies towards those actors and add a great deal of value to the raw Business Register data. The European BRITE project intended to provide adequate tools to meet these demands. BRITE will provide easier access and cross-border interoperability of Business Register data throughout Europe. On the other hand, the processing of BR data within the BRs and BRITE triggers several important European legislations such as the Data Protection Directive and the Directive on the re-use of public sector information. In this paper, the processing of BR data will be analysed from the perspective of both data protection and public sector information laws, analysing as well the relation between both regulations. Do these regulations strike an optimal balance between the interests of private data vendors to re-use BR data and enhance business transparency and the need to protect the personal data of natural persons?