Data enclosure by digital platforms: Empirical evidence

As digital platforms are increasingly shaping access to information, their control over platform data has profound implications for research, innovation, and accountability. This article presents the first comprehensive empirical study of how digital platforms have used contractual terms to enclose publicly available data over the past decade. Analyzing the Terms of Use of 279 platforms from 2012 and 2022, we identify a systematic increase in both restrictive and permissive clauses governing access to data for research purposes. We find that platforms adopted a dual contractual strategy: restrictive terms limit third-party access to data for research, while permissive terms preserve the platform's own ability to use and share data with selected partners. This strategy emerged alongside the rise of consent-based privacy regulation, especially the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which, despite its objective of protecting users, inadvertently expands platforms’ discretion over data access. Our findings suggest that privacy regulation has facilitated, rather than curtailed, platform data enclosures—enabling platforms to assert de facto control over data in the public domain. We contribute to the literature on data governance, platform regulation, and contract theory by documenting how platforms adapt boilerplate contracts in response to regulatory change and leverage privacy obligations to restrict independent research. These findings carry significant implications for legal and policy debates surrounding data access, transparency, and the future of platform accountability. They underscore the need to regulate the privatization of publicly available data to ensure equitable access for research serving the public interest.