Human Biodata Governance: Addressing the Tension Between Innovation and Protection Through DPIAs

In the area of human biodata governance, one of the most pressing questions is how to address the trade-off between promoting innovation and safeguarding the fundamental rights and freedoms that arise from the development, deployment, and use of AI and data processing. This paper considers that this trade-off poses a dilemma and raises the question of how to achieve governance that promotes biotechnological innovation and research while protecting the fundamental rights and values of individuals and groups. The aim of this paper is to explore regulatory instruments in the EU data protection law that can strike a balance between innovation and protection in the governance of human biodata. To this end, it focuses on meta-regulation as a regulatory technique and examines data protection impact assessment (DPIA) as a method for addressing the tension between innovation and protection. Based on doctrinal legal analysis, it argues that while DPIA is a useful instrument to seek a solution in this dilemma, further reflection and clarification are needed to improve the methods of conducting the impact assessment.