ABSTRACT
In most countries, land registration is still seen as an information service which a government should offer its citizens. Land registration is, therefore, governed by public law. However, in light of recent IT developments (blockchain technology, smart contracts, the internet of things and artificial intelligence) it is realised more and more that this information has a value independent from the value of the underlying asset (land, buildings). It is this, in a certain sense, ‘derived’ value of land data which is becoming very attractive for private investors. So, when a government decides to privatise a land registration system, it is not too difficult to find investors. Who owns which data then becomes a crucial question, as control over data decides who can use these for further trade, profiling and so on. It is submitted that these developments might even culminate in land registries becoming online intermediary platforms.
