Digital Governance and Personal Data Protection: Proposals for an Ethical Public Transformation through the Privacy-by-Design Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf20251782Keywords:
Privacy by Design, Smart Governance, Public Sector Innovation, Open Government Data, Personal Data ProtectionAbstract
Introduction: this research examined the relationship between digital innovation in public administration and personal data protection, employing a Privacy-by-Design (PbD) approach. It assessed the extent to which government platforms incorporate ethical and legal aspects that guarantee data privacy and security.
Methods: a qualitative study of Argentine public initiatives was conducted, combining three strategies: (i) visual exploration of the platforms from the user experience; (ii) manual and automated analysis of metadata on published datasets; and (iii) development of a prototype in Python to validate technical aspects linked to PbD principles, such as security settings, transparency, and basic privacy control mechanisms.
Results: progress was observed in access to open public data and tools aimed at citizen transparency. However, the full incorporation of data protection principles remains a challenge, as evidenced by both manual analysis and automated testing of the prototype. Metadata analysis and technical evaluation revealed weaknesses in the design, particularly in privacy and the implementation of user-accessible control mechanisms.
Conclusions: the results underscore the importance of integrating Privacy-by-Design into smart governance, thereby strengthening citizen trust in digital services and promoting more responsible and sustainable forms of governance. Design recommendations are presented that foster a paradigm shift in application development and regulatory standards for digital public innovation.
References
1. Valdiviezo GT, Alegre LR, Ayala DM, Padilla RD. Digital transformation in Latin America: a systematic review. Rev Venez Gerenc. 2022;27(100):1519–36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52080/rvgluz.27.100.15
2. Aucancela AM. The era of big data and open data in public administration. Rev Eurolatinoam Derecho Adm. 2021;8(1):61–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14409/redoeda.v8i1.9520
3. De Los Ríos Rueda MA, Galvis-Tovar JE. Colombia: Integration of Health Data Protection Regulations and the Case for International Health Data Transfers. In: International Transfers of Health Data: A Global Perspective. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore; 2025. p. 239–59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9983-1_12
4. Argentina.gob.ar. Datos abiertos [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jul 6]. Available from: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/datos-abiertos
5. Buenos Aires Data. BA Data [Internet]. [cited 2025 Jul 6]. Available from: https://data.buenosaires.gob.ar/
6. Hossain MA, Dwivedi YK, Rana NP. State-of-the-art in open data research: Insights from existing literature and a research agenda. J Organ Comput Electron Commer. 2016;26(1–2):14–40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10919392.2015.1124007
7. Hondares YP, Almora RM, Véliz AP. La protección de datos personales. Rev Científica Ecociencia. 2021;8:126–61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21855/ecociencia.80.644
8. León-Arroba RC, López-Sevilla GM. A Security-by-Design Architecture Proposal for the Protection of Personal Data in Public Entities. MQRInvestigar. 2024;8(4):4192–218. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56048/MQR20225.8.4.2024.4192-4218
9. Meyers G, Van Oirsouw CC, Keymolen EL, Goossens J. After the announcement: an interdisciplinary analysis of blockchain development in governments. Policy Des Pract. 2023;6(4):505–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2023.2272332
10. Wang X. The Problems and Optimization Paths of Digital Government Governance in Shandong Province. In: Proc 2nd Int Conf Digit Econ Manag Sci (CDEMS). Atlantis Press; 2024. p. 504–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-488-4_57
11. Shafik W. Shaping the Next Generation Smart City Ecosystem. In: Smart Cities: Innovations, Challenges and Future Perspectives. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 3–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59846-3_1
12. Andrade VC, Gomes RD, Reinehr S, Freitas CO, Malucelli A. Privacy by design and software engineering: a systematic literature review. In: Proc XXI Braz Symp Softw Qual. 2022. p. 1–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3571473.3571480
13. Cavoukian A. Privacy by design: The seven foundational principles. IAPP Resour Cent. 2021.
14. Porcelli AM. La protección de los datos personales en el entorno digital. Quaestio Iuris. 2019;12(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.12957/rqi.2019.40175
15. European Union. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR).
16. Yanamala AK, Suryadevara S. Navigating data protection challenges in the era of AI: A comprehensive review. Rev Int Artif Med. 2024;15(1):113–46.
17. Matheus R, Janssen M, Janowski T. Design principles for creating digital transparency in government. Gov Inf Q. 2021;38(1):101550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101550
18. Del-Real C, De Busser E, van den Berg B. A systematic literature review of security and privacy by design. Int Rev Law Comput Technol. 2025:1–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13600869.2025.2457227
19. Jowarder RA, Jahan S. Quantum computing in cyber security. World J Adv Eng Technol Sci. 2024;13(1):330–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjaets.2024.13.1.0421
20. Quach S, Thaichon P, Martin KD, Weaven S, Palmatier RW. Digital technologies: tensions in privacy and data. J Acad Mark Sci. 2022;50(6):1299–323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00845-y
21. Eom SJ, Lee J. Digital government transformation in turbulent times. Gov Inf Q. 2022;39(2):101690. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2022.101690
22. George G, Merrill RK, Schillebeeckx SJ. Digital sustainability and entrepreneurship. Entrep Theory Pract. 2021;45(5):999–1027. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719899425
23. Feng S, Zhang R, Li G. Environmental decentralization, digital finance and green technology innovation. Struct Change Econ Dyn. 2022;61:70–83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2022.02.008
24. Castro C, Lopes C. Digital government and sustainable development. J Knowl Econ. 2022;13(2):880–903. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-021-00749-2
25. Yee CK, Zolkipli MF. Review on confidentiality, integrity and availability in information security. J ICT Educ. 2021;8(2):34–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37134/jictie.vol8.2.4.2021
26. Kim L. Cybersecurity. In: Nursing Informatics. Cham: Springer; 2022. p. 391–410. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91237-6_26
27. Jha RK. Cybersecurity and confidentiality in smart grid. Recent Res Rev J. 2023;2(2):215–41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36548/rrrj.2023.2.001
28. Nouwens M, Liccardi I, Veale M, Karger D, Kagal L. Dark patterns after the GDPR. In: Proc CHI Conf Hum Factors Comput Syst. 2020. p. 1–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376321
29. Borberg I, Hougaard R, Rafnsson W, Kulyk O. So I sold my soul: Effects of dark patterns. In: USEC Symp. 2022.
30. Georgiadis G, Poels G. Towards a privacy impact assessment methodology. Comput Law Secur Rev. 2022;44:105640. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2021.105640
31. Aljeraisy A, Barati M, Rana O, Perera C. Exploring relationships between privacy by design and privacy laws. arXiv [Preprint]. 2022 Oct 6. Available from: https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.03520
32. Zaeem RN, Barber KS. Economics of Privacy: Privacy, a Machine Learning Perspective. In: Encyclopedia of Cryptography, Security and Privacy. Cham: Springer; 2025. p. 745–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71522-9_1612
33. Mohan N, KA Z. Assessing the impact of privacy policy motivations. Int J Hum Comput Interact. 2025;1–4.
34. Reeck C, Guo X, Dimoka A, Pavlou PA. Uncovering the neural processes of privacy. Inf Syst Res. 2024;35(2):727–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2021.0550
35. Adam S, Makhortykh M, Maier M, et al. Improving quality of web tracking: challenges and new solutions. Soc Sci Comput Rev. 2024 Oct 16.
36. Choi JR, Kim S. Predicting privacy protection and self-tracking behaviors in smart health. Telemat Inform. 2024;86:102069. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2023.102069
37. Andraško J, Mesarčík M. Data protection in EU electronic identification. TalTech J Eur Stud. 2021;11(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjes-2021-0012
38. Politou E, Alepis E, Virvou M, Patsakis C. Privacy and data protection challenges in the distributed era. Cham: Springer; 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85443-0
39. Alic D. Data protection and cybersecurity regulations in AI governance. CEU Thesis Repos. 2021 Jun.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Roxana Martínez (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.
