At the 11th LexDatum Conference, held on 6 February 2026 at the School of Computer Engineering of the University of Valladolid, under the title ‘Open Data and Privacy’, Pablo Pascual Huerta, Vice-President of the Legal Committee of ASEDIE, gave a talk on ‘Personal Data Protection and Open Data’.
In his presentation, Pablo gave a practical overview of the main legal challenges arising from the publication and reuse of open data, focusing in particular on its compatibility with personal data protection regulations.
Pascual began his speech by explaining what ASEDIE is, its role as representatives of infomediary companies, and how they mediate information and facilitate connections between the public and private sectors to enhance the value of data. He emphasised the importance not only of opening up data, but of doing so correctly: how it is obtained, how it is structured, and how it is shared determines its usefulness and legal adequacy.
Pablo Pascual Huerta then explained how the public sector reuses information, which means that published data can be used for commercial or non-commercial purposes other than those for which it was originally generated, as established in Article 4 of the Reuse Act. During the presentation, Pablo also analysed the differences between the reuse regulations and the Transparency Act. While reuse focuses on making information available to generate added value, transparency imposes obligations on governments, public administrations, the Royal Household and certain private entities, under the supervision of the Transparency and Good Governance Council. Furthermore, the Transparency Act itself expressly recognises that published information may be reused.
With regard to personal data, Pablo Pascual explained that its reuse is possible in certain cases, although there are legal exclusions and limitations derived from data protection regulations. The presentation highlighted that publishing open data is not simply a matter of making a set of information accessible, but requires prior analysis of the risks to individuals’ rights. Ensuring a balance between transparency, reuse and data protection is one of the main challenges currently facing the legal and technological fields.
Below, you can watch part of Pablo Pascual Huerta’s talk.