THE POST-MORTEM PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA: PERSPECTIVES IN COMPARATIVE PRIVATE LAW

The increasing persistence of personal data beyond death raises legal questions that cannot be addressed within the boundaries of data protection law alone. In the European Union, the GDPR expressly excludes the personal data of deceased persons from its scope, while leaving Member States free to regulate their processing. This regulatory choice has resulted in a fragmented legal landscape, in which access to, control over, transmission and deletion of post mortem personal data are governed through different combinations of data protection law, succession law, contract law and the law relating to digital assets.

This thesis examines the post mortem processing of personal data from a comparative private law perspective, with particular attention to selected European legal systems and the United States. Rather than treating national solutions as isolated models, the analysis focuses on the legal mechanisms through which post mortem interests are recognised and exercised across jurisdictions. Particular attention is given to the distinction between rights exercised iure proprio and rights transmitted mortis causa.

The comparative analysis also considers the position of digital service providers and the impact of contractual terms on the accessibility, transferability, preservation and deletion of digital accounts and their contents. These issues are further complicated by the heterogeneous nature of digital assets and by the coexistence of patrimonial and non-patrimonial interests.

The broader objective of the research is to assess whether the divergences between existing national approaches may be overcome through a more coherent European framework. By identifying common legal problems, recurring mechanisms and points of convergence across jurisdictions, the thesis seeks to explore the foundations for a harmonised European approach to the protection and management of personal data after death.