#DATAGOV2 – European Data Governance

European Citizens’ data protection, data governance and cybersecurity: trade secrets, company security and critical infrastructures in Europe

e-learning mode

Academic Year 2020/2021 – March/May 2021

(48 hours – 6 CFU/ECTS)

Keystaff: Avv. Prof. Simone Bonavita, LLM, Phd, Prof. Massimo Farina, LLM, Phd, Avv. Stefano Mele, Phd, Prof. Avv. Pierluigi Perri, Phd

With the tutorships of: Ing. Paolo Dello Vicario – Avv. Giulia Escurolle – Avv. Silvia Martinelli – Dott.ssa Alessandra Salluce – Dott.ssa Andrea Scirpa – Dott.ssa Samanta Stanco – Dott. Gabriele Suffia – Dott. Jacopo Ziffer – Dott.ssa Giulia Pesci 

The course is focused on the Legal Informatic analysis of the EU law related to data and information treatment following an integrated approach, which allows students to understand the importance of relevant changes in EU norms, not only in the field of personal data but also related to other kinds of data and of their impact on infrastructures and services within the information society.


Lesson #1: 5 March 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Introduction: the concept of “data” and security 1/1

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Pierluigi Perri, Simone Bonavita, Massimo Farina, Stefano Mele.

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli

  • Introduction to the Jean Monnet Course on data governance
  • The concept of “data” and the data processing
  • Legal framework: the new data governance act, digital market act and digital services act
  • Data, data protection, personal data and cybersecurity
  • Cybersecurity and fundamental rights
  • USA and Europe: a different approach
  • Cybersecurity in Russia, China and in emerging markets

To be discussed:

Arrieta Ibarra, Imanol and Goff, Leonard and Jiménez Hernández, Diego and Lanier, Jaron and Weyl, Eric Glen, Should We Treat Data as Labor? Moving Beyond ‘Free’ (December 27, 2017). American Economic Association Papers & Proceedings, Vol. 1, No. 1, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3093683

Cole, Mark D. and Schmitz, Sandra, The Interplay between the NIS Directive and the GDPR in a Cybersecurity threat landscape (December 31, 2019). University of Luxembourg Law Working Paper No. 2019-017. Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3512093

Kilovaty, Ido, Privatized Cybersecurity Law (February 19, 2019). UC Irvine Law Review (2020, Forthcoming). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3338155

For deepening research:

Eichensehr, Kristen, The Cyber-Law of Nations (January 8, 2014). 103 Geo. L.J. 317 (2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2447683

Lesson #2: 12  March 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 4: Information protection and trade secret (1/3)

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Simone Bonavita

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli

  • Trade secret and information technology
  • The importance of trade secrets for the EU economy
  • How to keep trade secrets secure
  • Cybersecurity and trade secrets
  • Attacks to trade secrets and computer crimes

To be discussed:

Adornato, Anthony and Horsfall, Andrew, Failed Strategy: Using Trade Secret Laws to Assert Ownership of Employees’ Social Media Accounts in the Journalism Industry (July 1, 2019). This paper was presented at the World Journalism Education Congress in Paris, France (2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3425250 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3425250

For deepening research:

Loshin, Jacob, Secrets Revealed: How Magicians Protect Intellectual Property without Law (July 25, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1005564 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1005564

Lesson #3: 19 March 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 4: Information protection and trade secret (2/3)

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Pierluigi Perri

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli

  • Broadband in Italy & Europe: Legal Framework
  • The relationship between trade secrets, patents and other types of industrial protection within the EU;
  • The relationship between trade secrets, non-personal data, big data;
  • The non-disclosure agreements, protocols and non-competition agreements within the EU

To be discussed:

Malgieri, Gianclaudio, Trade Secrets v Personal Data: A Possible Solution for Balancing Rights (January 29, 2016). International Data Privacy Law, Volume 6, Issue 2, 1 May 2016, Pages 102–116. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3002685

Lesson #4: 26 March 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 4: Information protection and trade secret (3/3)

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Simone Bonavita + GUEST

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli, Jacopo Ziffer

  • The discipline of NDA
  • Illegal conducts and unfair competition
  • Some examples of agreements and cases
  • Trade secret Vs transparency
  • Segmentation
  • Specific security measures
  • Leaking and whistleblowing in the trade secret framework

To be discussed:

Gaido, Chiara, The Trade Secrets Protection in U.S. And in Europe: A Comparative Study (January 30, 2018). REVISTA LA PROPIEDAD INMATERIAL, No. 24, Julio-Diciembre 2017. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3113580

Maggiolino, Mariateresa, EU Trade Secrets Law and Algorithmic Transparency (March 31, 2019). Bocconi Legal Studies Research Paper No. 3363178. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3363178

Lesson #5: 9 April 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 5: The critical infrastructures in Europe 1/3

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Stefano Mele

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli, Gabriele Suffia

  • The EU strategy for cybersecurity
  • The critical infrastructures: operators of fundamental services and digital service providers
  • Data protection and network information security issues

To be discussed:

European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2006:0786:FIN:EN:PDF

Carrapico, Helena, and André Barrinha. “The EU as a coherent (cyber) security actor?.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 55.6 (2017): 1254-1272. Available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jcms.12575

Lesson #6: 16 April 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 5: The critical infrastructures in Europe 2/3

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Stefano Mele

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli, Gabriele Suffia

  • Public infrastructures and cybersecurity
  • Cloud security
  • Protection of critical infrastructures in the medical sector

To be discussed:

Odermatt, Jed, The European Union as a Cybersecurity Actor (March 20, 2018). Research Handbook on EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. ed./Steven Blockmans; Panos Koutrakos. Cheltenham/Northhampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, Forthcoming; University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2018-52. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3144257 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3144257

Lesson #7: 23 April 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 5: The critical infrastructures in Europe 3/3

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Massimo Farina

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli

  • Critical infrastructures and data protection norms
  • The data breach management in critical infrastructures
  • The management of critical infrastructures in European Countries
  • [MF1] [SB2] [SB3] 

To be discussed:

Dawson, Jessica, and Robert Thomson. “The future cybersecurity workforce: going beyond technical skills for successful cyber performance.” Frontiers in psychology 9 (2018). Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6005833/

Lesson #8: 30 April 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 6:  The security of banking and commercial data (1/2)

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Pierluigi Perri

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli

  • Digital aspects of bank transactions within Europe
  • PSD2 and mobile payments
  • Security in IT banking activities
  • Digital security of IT payment systems
  • Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
  • Protection of EU citizens in virtual markets
  • Cyber-laundering
  • DLT technologies and security issues
  • Customers’ protection in banking, financing and e-commerce services
  • Platform’s responsibility

To be discussed:

Adeyemi, Adebola, A New Phase of Payments in Europe: the Impact of PSD2 on the Payments Industry (January 21, 2019). Computer and Telecommunications Law Review (2019) vol 25(2) 47 – 53. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3375530

Lesson #9: 7 May 2021 (15:30-19:00)

Module 6:  The security of banking and commercial data (2/2)

Lesson: Giovanni Ziccardi

Key Staff: Simone Bonavita + GUEST

Tutor: Giulia Escurolle, Silvia Martinelli

  • IT service contracts and consumers’ protection
  • The protection of the consumers of IT services in the European Union
  • Customers’ protection in banking, financing and e-commerce services
  • Platform’s responsibility

To be discussed:

Kerber, Wolfgang. “Digital markets, data, and privacy: competition law, consumer law and data protection.” Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 11.11 (2016): 856-866. Available at https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/144679/1/850599016.pdf

For deepening research:

Trautman, Lawrence J., E-Commerce, Cyber, and Electronic Payment System Risks: Lessons from PayPal (September 3, 2016). 16 U.C. Davis Business Law Journal 261 (Spring 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2314119 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2314119