Data Governance - Treating Data like Nuclear Fuel

This podcast explores the evolving legal and economic framework of data ownership, questioning whether current property rights adequately address the unique challenges of the digital economy. A governance crisis is identified where the United States faces "constitutional inversion" due to dominant tech platforms, while China operates under a system of state-driven digital arbitrariness. To resolve these issues, the podcast proposes a novel regulatory model inspired by the EURATOM treaty regarding nuclear materials. This alternative suggests that the public sector should hold residual control rights over data through an independent agency, granting companies usage rights while maintaining the power to enforce safety and competition. Ultimately, this approach aims to protect private autonomy and individual privacy by treating data as a distinct class of assets requiring a specialized institutional order.The podcast is based on the following article: Datenökonomie – Zwischen ordnungspolitischer Inversion und staatlicher Willkür, in: Bechtold, S. and Spiecker, I. (eds.), Law, Behavior and Decision – Recht, Verhalten und Entscheidung: Festschrift für Christoph Engel, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2026, pp. 481-495.