Intellectual Property

Creations of the mind protected by law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. In privacy contexts, intellectual property considerations intersect with data protection in several ways. Privacy policies, website content, and software may be copyrighted. Organizations claim intellectual property in algorithms, business processes, and data analytics methods. However, intellectual property rights don't override privacy obligations—you can't use copyright to prevent individuals from accessing their personal data, and trade secret protection doesn't excuse transparency requirements. Some tensions arise when data subject rights conflict with intellectual property claims—for example, requests for information about automated decision-making algorithms. Organizations should balance intellectual property protection with privacy compliance, avoid using IP claims to obstruct legitimate privacy rights, redact truly proprietary information when responding to requests while still providing meaningful explanations, and document IP protections appropriately.