On April 23rd, the Library on Gazetny hosted the opening of a series of public lectures held by the Gaidar Institute. The first topic addressed the question: Is personal data really more valuable than oil? The event brought together experts in law, digital ethics, and humanitarian missions, as well as attendees interested in digital rights and the data economy.
The speaker was Antonina Levashenko, Head of the Gaidar Institute’s International Best Practices Analysis Department. In her presentation, she provided a detailed analysis of the evolution of personal data handling—from the history of the emergence of relevant laws to the current role of data as fuel for the digital economy. The speaker explained how personal data has become an issue in international trade, what protection tools the law provides users with in practice and in the digital realm, and who exactly collects and processes data. Antonina Levashenko paid special attention to mechanisms for manipulating behavior through data collection. She also proposed possible solutions to the problem of personal data collection and processing.
Guest speakers also participated in the discussion, each of whom addressed the issue from their own perspective.
Alexander Partin, attorney and partner at Privacy Advocates and a member of the RPPA board, focused on legal practice. He discussed the criteria for determining whether information constitutes personal data, compared the approaches of Russia and the EU, cited examples from legal practice, and presented a formula for calculating the data attributivity index.
Polina Polad-Zade, humanitarian policy advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), shared a non-commercial perspective on the issue. She explained how personal data assists the ICRC in its work and why its collection is beneficial not only for commercial gain but also for saving lives in humanitarian missions.
Ivan Begtin, Director of the ANO “Information Culture,” also spoke, adding to the discussion with a perspective on the issue from the standpoint of information culture and data openness.
Presentation of the public lecture “Is personal data more valuable than oil? »
We thank all guests for their interest in the topic and invite you to follow announcements of upcoming public lectures at the Library on Gazetny on our website
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