Multi-State Issues
Transactions in the data economy are rarely limited by national borders. Thus, the last Part provides some guidance as to the application of private international law to issues in the data economy.
- Principle 38 deals with established choice of law rules of the forum.
- Principle 39 refers to issues not covered by established choice of law rules of the forum.
- Principle 40 points out situations in which the data storage location can be relevant.
Established Choice of Law Rules of the Forum
When a matter touches more than one state, conflicts between the law of different states can arise. Principle 38 solves such conflicts by application of the forum’s choice of law rules (e.g. for data contracts). If no clear rules exist, Principle 39 chooses the law of the State that has the most significant relationship to the legal issue in question.
Relevance of Storage Location
Data can be moved across the globe within seconds and can be accessed and processed remotely from anywhere. Thus, Principle 40 provides that, for choice-of-law purposes, the territorial location of the storage of data is relevant as a connecting factor only when the issue in question relates to storage or to rights in the medium.