Improving data protection in sport: Human rights, data protection, and sustainability (Part 2)
With the increased importance of data, human rights and sustainability in sport, an important question arises, how can the protection of personal data in sport be improved? There are many challenges to be considered. It is evident that even very comprehensive regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) do not contain any sport-specific requirements. For example, the processing of health data is generally not permitted for the purpose of fulfilling a contract, with the exception of certain scenarios (mostly) in the employment relationship, which can lead to a variety of practical challenges in the processing of sports data1.
Challenges can arise from the often non-transparent collection and evaluation of enormous amounts of data (e.g. in the area of scouting) (see Part 1 of this article). In particular, the cross-border nature of professional sport in these cases of extensive data processing also leads to questions regarding the applicable law and the associated level of protection.The corresponding protection granted under human rights law are also critical to consider.
This article analysis and provides some suggestions of how sports organisations could improve their data protection regulations, drawing on examples, such as the collaboration between FIFA and FIFPRO.
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- Tags: Athlete Welfare | Data Protection | FIFA | FIFPRO | Football | GDPR | Human Rights | International Federations | Sustainability
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Written by
Dr Tinusch Jalilvand
Dr Tinusch Jalilvand is Attorney at Law and Senior Associate at the sports law firm Martens Lawyers.
He has profound expertise in ESG Law and Human Rights Law in Sports as well as in Data Protection Law, in particular in sports. He advises various sports leagues, clubs and federations on both topics.
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Fernanda Soares
Excellent article, thanks for sharing! I've been studying the subject here in Brazil for years and I've also been arguing about the need for the sports system to take a closer look at the protection of personal data. Self-regulation is encouraged by Brazilian data protection law. In addition, there are sectors of the Brazilian economy that have already realized the need to develop specific rules on data protection, as in the case of notary offices.
Specific regulation for sports must be developed by a plurality of actors, involving public actors – such as the data protection authority – and private actors – sports federations.
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