One Form to Rule Them All: Towards a Personalized, But Standardized, European Data Altruism Consent Form

Data altruism is a novel concept established by the Data Governance Act that aims to increase the availability of data for purposes that meet the general interests of society. However, realizing this future relies on the data subjects giving their consent to use the data collected. As of this time, little is known about how a European data altruism consent form might allow a transparent, user-friendly, and lawful process for granting and withdrawing consent to the re-using one’s personal information. This article therefore explores some of the most pressing legal, design, and technical challenges that need to be addressed to enable a trustworthy exchange of data and consent permissions. Given that decisions about whether one’s data can be used mostly depend on personal and contextual factors, I argue for the implementation of dynamic consent with standardized, interoperable semantic specifications used as viable means to personalizing consent. This would be the most lawful and efficient way to support individual autonomy.