Free data?: open science in the age of personal data protection

Current society gives extreme importance to information. Terms such as “information society” or “data-driven society” are recognized as describing scenarios where information is no longer just functional to the realization of other principal services and activities. Lawmakers have put great emphasis on these concepts for years. It is not always clear, however, what kind of tools are intended to be adopted to fully realize this free and easy use of data. This Chapter addresses the issue from the perspective of Open Science, a model of sharing and use of information not only ethically correct but also “necessary” for the public bodies. In particular, Open Data scenario will be taken as a benchmark, since it represents a privileged field of study with reference to the interaction of rules and interests relating to the management of information and of possible personal data.