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94 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 737 (2019)
Data Standardization

handle is hein.journals/nylr94 and id is 755 raw text is: DATA STANDARDIZATION MICHAL S. GALt AND DANIEL L. RUBINFELDt With data rapidly becoming the lifeblood of the global economy, the ability to improve its use significantly affects both social and private welfare. Data standardi- zation is key to facilitating and improving the use of data when data portability and interoperability are needed. Absent data standardization, a Tower of Babel of different databases may be created, limiting synergetic knowledge production. Based on interviews with data scientists, this Article identifies three main technolog- ical obstacles to data portability and interoperability: metadata uncertainties, data transfer obstacles, and missing data. It then explains how data standardization can remove at least some of these obstacles and lead to smoother data flows and better machine learning. The Article then identifies and analyzes additional effects of data standardization. As shown, data standardization has the potential to support a competitive and distributed data collection ecosystem and lead to easier policing in cases where rights are infringed or unjustified harms are created by data-fed algo- rithms. At the same time, increasing the scale and scope of data analysis can create negative externalities in the form of better profiling, increased harms to privacy, and cybersecurity harms. Standardization also has implications for investment and innovation, especially if lock-in to an inefficient standard occurs. The Article then explores whether market-led standardization initiatives can be relied upon to increase welfare, and the role governmental-facilitated data standardization should play, if at all. INTRODUCTION .................................................... 738 I. DATA: ANALYSIS AND MARKETS ........................ 742 A. Data and Data Analysis ............................. 742 B. D ata M arkets ....................................... 746 C. Technological Obstacles to the Use of Data by O thers .............................................. 747 II. Tm STANDARDIZATION OF DATA ........................ 749 A. What Is Data Standardization? ...................... 749 B. The Effects of Data Standardization on Data Use... 750 C. Considerations Relevant to Data Standardization .... 751 t Professor of Law, University of Haifa Faculty of Law and Chair of the International Society of Competition Law Scholars (ASCOLA). T Robert L. Bridges Professor of Law and Professor of Economics Emeritus, U.C. Berkeley, and Professor of Law, New York University School of Law. The authors thank Daniel Francis, Avigdor Gal, Inge Graef, Scott Hemphill, Yoram Shiftan, Thomas Streinz, Eviatar Matania, and participants at the NYU Symposium on Data Law in the Global Economy and the biannual TILTing Perspectives Conference for wonderful comments on previous drafts; Benedict Kingsbury for helpful discussions; Eviatar Alkobi, Ilana Atron, Saar Ben Zeev, Ran Chaplin, Lior Frank, and Tamar Shtub for excellent research assis- tance; and the Center for Cyber Law and Policy at the University of Haifa for funding. Any mistakes or omissions remain the authors'. Copyright © 2019 by Michal S. Gal & Daniel L. Rubinfeld. 737 Imaged with Permission of N.Y.U. Law Review

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