On the Legal Nature of Synthetic Data

Abstract

The present manuscript attempts to analyse the legal qualification of synthetic data generated from personal data. Three main conclusions are drawn from our legal analysis: first, full data protection compliance prior to data synthesis would be applicable in many cases; second, according to the identifiability test as enshrined in the definition of personal data, synthetic data will be considered pseudonymous or anonymous data depending on the appropriateness of the data synthesis and the related ex-post control mechanisms; third, the broader question of the legal qualification of synthetic remains an unresolved issue in light of the exegetical discrepancy by law and doctrine on the identifiability test and regulatory model for data protection law.