Nothing is easier than sharing data – and it is precisely this ease that makes companies in particular reluctant to share data. This is because the potential benefits of data sharing – optimisation of products and processes, cost savings, new data-driven business models – are offset by the risks: data loss, data theft, data leaks. Do you have to accept the risks in order to realise the potential benefits?
Various data trustee models attempt to provide answers to the question of how secure data sharing can be achieved. Episode 11 of ShareCast focuses on a particularly sophisticated data trustee model: the transaction-based approach. This enables data providers to share data without relinquishing control over it. It is not the raw data that is circulated, but the analysis results.
ShareCast Epsiode 11 – Sharing data without giving it away? The transaction-based data trustee. 27 January 2026
Guests
Dr Egbert Schark is a physicist and founding partner of the consulting firm d-fine.
Prof Dr Steffen Augsberg Professor of Public Law at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen.
Further information
Alldridge, Alexander: Teil 4: Transaktionsbasierte Datentreuhand als neuartiges Treuhandmodell. § 13: Technische Konzeption und Umsetzung. In: Johannes Buchheim, Florian Möslein & Sebastian Omlor (Hg.): Datentreuhand und Recht. C.H. BECK: München, 2025. S. 325-340.
Person, Christian: § 3 Gaia-X als informations- und dateninfrastruktureller Rahmen. In: Johannes Buchheim, Florian Möslein & Sebastian Omlor (Hg.): Datentreuhand und Recht. C.H. BECK: München, 2025. S. 35-63.
Buchheim, Johannes & Steffen Augsberg: Von der Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten zur personenbezogenen Datenverarbeitung – Zugleich eine datenschutzrechtliche Erläuterung und Einordnung des Modells der transaktionsbasierten Datentreuhand. In: JuristenZeitung (JZ) 79/9 (2024), S. 365-375.
Buchheim, Johannes, Steffen Augsberg & Petra Gehring: Transaktionsbasierte Datentreuhand. Nutzungsszenarien, Kennzeichen und spezifische Leistungen eines neuen Modells gemeinsamer Datennutzung. In: JuristenZeitung (JZ) 77/23 (2022), S. 1139-1147.
all ShareCast episodesEpisode 11: Sharing data without giving it away? The transaction-based data trusteeSharing data can open up a wide range of opportunities, especially for businesses: processes and products can be optimised, costs saved and new business models developed. At the same time, there are risks: data loss, data theft, data leaks. So is there no such thing as secure data sharing? Transaction-based data trusteeship is a very sophisticated approach to responding to these risks: it aims to make it possible to share data without giving up control over it. | listen now
Episode 10: A “Swiss approach”? Data sharing in the Swiss ConfederationIn this episode, we discuss the Swiss data ecosystem and ask whether Switzerland’s approach to European regulations is consistent or divergent, and to what extent the country’s manageable size offers a strategic advantage for the efficient development of infrastructure. | listen now
Episode 9: The Big Limitation? On Data ProtectionWe encounter data protection modules everywhere. Whether we accept or reject cookies when browsing, sign a consent form at the doctor’s office, or agree to the new terms and conditions when updating our smartphones – we are constantly dealing with data protection consents. On the one hand, data protection sets limits on the sharing of data. On the other hand, it can also be seen as a pull factor for data sharing. In our ninth episode of ShareCast, we take a closer look at the limits and potential of the GDPR. | listen now
Episode 8: Digital Sovereignty: Deciding how to shareDigital sovereignty is one of the key concepts in the debate on digital policy – and is often used to highlight the lack of sovereignty in the digital sphere. This lack did not arise suddenly, but in times of intensifying geopolitical conflicts, these dependencies now appear threatening. What are these dependencies and how do they affect data sharing? And what are the prospects for developing greater digital sovereignty? That’s what episode 8 of ShareCast is all about. | listen now
Episode 7: A dream of open knowledge: data sharing in scienceThe seventh episode deals with an entire area of modern society: science. We explore the significance of sharing digital data for scientific work and discuss the opportunities and challenges currently being debated in this field. | listen now
Episode 6: Open source software: shared or closed?Open source software is software under free licences that grants its users four freedoms: to run the software for any purpose, to examine how it works and thus also its source code, to adapt it to their own needs, and to redistribute the software, even in modified versions. This distinguishes it from software that the open source movement refers to as ‘proprietary’ or ‘closed source software,’ which does not offer these ‘fundamental freedoms.’ But how exactly is collaboration and sharing carried out here? What interests determine the open source world, and what conflicts exist? | listen now
Episode 5: Data, Forests, and TimberThe fifth episode of ShareCast focuses on the data generated in the forest and forestry and timber industries. How is this data created? What is it used for? Who has an interest in it? Why is this data not shared? What stands in the way of this? What potential could be realized if this were to succeed? And how could the obstacles to data sharing in forestry and the timber industry be removed? | listen now
Episode 4: Connected Cars: Improvement or Data Hogs?Having your own car was once a great promise of freedom. Getting into the car and being able to drive wherever we wanted. And keep to yourself: With your partner or family. This image of the car is still there – and yet another one is slowly taking over. Cars are now highly networked, high-performance machines that are constantly filming, recording and measuring. The manufacturer is virtually at the wheel. | listen now
Episode 3: Smart City: Data Overload?In the third episode of ShareCast, we talk about the interplay between data and urban development. We take a look at what is associated with the term smart city and discuss the potential and challenges that smart city concepts entail. | listen now
Episode 2: Health Data: Just for Me or Donation?On the one hand, the sharing of data is intended to provide a major boost to innovation in medical research and help improve healthcare. On the other hand, health data is extremely sensitive data, i.e. data with a clear personal reference that can cause great harm in the wrong hands. This difficult balancing act is illustrated very clearly when it comes to so-called rare diseases. | listen now
Episode 1: Data: Nothing (easier) to share?We shed light on some of the things behind buzzwords such as sharing economy, data silo, platform economy and open science. And we examine the heterogeneous understandings that are associated with sharing: voluntarily giving away data for a specific purpose, sharing data with a counterpart, passing on data in a group or making data openly available to everyone – these are very different things. | listen now
Episode 0: ShareCast – starting July 1, 2025 | listen now