In the pursuit of a safe, reliable and predictable digital environment in the European Union (EU), as a researcher you have the right to access non-public data of providers of very large online platforms/search engines (article 40 of the Digital Services Act).
The use of non-public data for research activities should contribute to the detection, identification and understanding of potential systemic risks occurring online, as well as assessing the mitigation measures taken by providers. In this way, the research community contributes to the effective supervision of providers’ compliance with the Digital Services Act. Indicative cases of systemic risks are the dissemination of illegal content and the negative impacts on the exercise of fundamental rights, such as the protection of personal data, human dignity and freedom of expression.
Important notes
- Prerequisites for access to non-public data are being awarded the status of “vetted researcher” , as well as the contribution of the research and its results in:
- Detecting, identifying, and understanding of the systemic risks in the EU,
- Assessing the adequacy, efficiency and impacts of risk mitigation measures taken by providers.
- The access concerns exclusively data of very large online platforms/search engines providers with an average monthly number of active users in the EU equal to or greater than 45 million. It is noted that, to date, no providers of very large online platforms/search engines are established in Greece.
- Non-public data is data that is not available to the public, is considered confidential and is subject to restrictions by law (e.g. information/data regarding the time of use of a platform, advertising expenditure).
- Applications for the status of vetted researcher and data access are submitted exclusively through the European Commission’s DSA Data Access Portal (see Awarding procedure).