Report on the technical and legal framework for sharing confidential data

Any collaboration between researchers and investigative journalists, and more specifically any collaboration in the field of crime investigation – lives a constant opposition and (re)composition between three poles, which are three sets of fundamental rights: • On the one side, the need to safeguard personal data and sensitive information (e.g. those which are crucial to carry out a safe and effective investigation), in line with Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental rights of the European Union; • On the other side, the need to guarantee the right of access to and freedom of information, in line with Article 11 of the above mentioned Charter; • On a third front, the push (fostered by the European Commission) of ‘Fair-ification’, i.e. the need to produce information which could be findable, openly accessible, interoperable and re-usable for research purposes, in line with Article 13 of the Charter. This constant opposition/(re)composition poses important challenges both from the legal and technical point of view. This report, building on the specific collaboration experienced by IRPI and Crime&tech in the COESO and DATACROS projects (and in related initiatives) aims at discussing them in-depth, in the light of paving the way for future partnerships between researchers and investigative journalists, especially in the field of investigation of (potentially) criminal behavior, improve transparency and prevent inequality and illicit activities.