1 Introduction

This section introduces the importance of data as an emerging factor of production in the digital economy era, highlighting that data ownership has become a core issue in market competition. It points out the shift in France's concept of personal data entitlement from personality rights to property rights, which is driven by market logic and institutional motivations. Additionally, it elaborates on the insights that France's shift in personal data entitlement offers for the development of China's relevant institutional frameworks, clarifying the research methodology and content of this paper.

2 Theoretical Foundations of Personal Data Entitlement

This section explores the theoretical foundations of personal data entitlement, emphasizing that data entitlement is central to the study of rights. France is transitioning from personality rights protection to property rights protection, influenced by multiple factors. Data is categorized into public, personal, and corporate types, with corporate data being particularly complex, especially consumer data collected by platforms, which poses governance challenges. French academia has extensively debated the nature of data rights, proposing concepts such as the privacy paradox and protecting data rights through market mechanisms, illustrating the evolving understanding of data rights.

3 Historical and Realistic Perspectives on Personal Data Entitlement by French Platforms

This section delves into the historical trajectory, current status, and challenges of the data market regarding personal data entitlement in France. France's data governance history dates back to the parish register system in the 17th century, evolving over centuries to accumulate rich experience and playing a key role in EU data legislation. In the late 1970s, with the rise of electronic files, the concept of personal data emerged, but frequent personal data privacy scandals prompted French legislators to strengthen data governance through legislation. The 1978 "Information Technology, Data Files, and Freedoms Act" established the foundation of data personality rights, defining personal data as non-proprietary rights applicable only to natural persons. Since then, France's data entitlement practices have been closely linked to the European data governance framework. The adoption of the EU's 1995 "Personal Data Protection Directive" established dual goals of data protection and free circulation, influenced by French law and continuing the theory of data personality rights. France amended relevant laws in 2004, expanding the scope of personal data and further strengthening legal protection. In 2018, the implementation of the GDPR, building on the theoretical and legal foundations of its predecessor, the Directive, not only continued the dual goals but also introduced the "right to be forgotten" and "data portability," creating room for the expansion of digital rights. However, France and Europe as a whole have yet to reach consensus on defining data personality rights and property rights, and the path to data propertization remains unclear, posing challenges in balancing personal data protection with reasonable utilization.

Regarding the French data market, it exhibits a "three-tier structure," with platform enterprises playing a central role. However, market failures have become frequent in recent years, hindering perfect competition. Market monopoly is one of the core challenges, as the non-competitive nature of data allows monopolistic enterprises to accumulate data and dominate the market. For example, Google, Facebook, and Amazon hold significant shares in France's advertising market. Information asymmetry is a severe issue, with individuals and platform enterprises having vastly different capabilities in accessing information, placing individuals at a disadvantage in negotiations and making it difficult to realize data rights. Additionally, the French data market suffers from negative externalities, including personal privacy violations, data valuation issues, and hidden costs for consumers. In terms of privacy violations, insufficient regulation and restrictions leave personal data at risk of leakage. Data value is volatile, creating uncertainty in market pricing and transactions. Consumers' hidden labor provides unpaid contributions to platforms, exacerbating the gap between individuals and enterprises. These challenges largely stem from the lack of clear property rights for data, insufficient incentives for individuals, and the absence of data property attributes, making it difficult to incorporate data into traditional market competition law frameworks. To improve data market governance, France needs to assign a certain degree of property attributes to data.

4 Legal Explorations of Platform Data Properization in France

This section delves into France's legal explorations of platform data propertization, analyzing the dual nature of personal data in the digital economy era—both personality and property attributes—and the importance of data propertization in balancing the relationships among market participants and enhancing individuals' control over their data. The article points out that data propertization helps correct market imbalances by granting ownership of personal data, thereby limiting excessive corporate behavior and strengthening personal data protection. Additionally, it elaborates on the legitimacy and potential legal basis for personal data propertization from perspectives such as the tradability of personal data, the three elements in the French Civil Code, and the legal foundation provided by the GDPR. However, personal data propertization in France still faces numerous practical challenges, such as potential negative impacts and exacerbating inequalities among citizens. These challenges have confined the topic to theoretical discussions in France and have sparked widespread concerns and skepticism. Nonetheless, discussions surrounding personal data property rights highlight the diverse demands of society for data governance and emphasize the need to carefully balance fairness and efficiency in advancing data propertization.

5 Conclusion

This section discusses the controversies surrounding the nature of personal data rights, analyzes France's experience with data entitlement and its insights, and emphasizes that China should develop a data rights system tailored to its national conditions. It underscores the importance of balancing personality rights and property rights, prioritizing data security and public interests, exploring a data entitlement model suitable for China, and promoting localized innovation.