Volume II: Law, Policy, and Ecological Justice

Personal Data as Mal: Rethinking Data Ownership in Islamic Economic Law

  • Muhamad Afif Sholahudin UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Indonesia

Keywords

Personal Data, Digital Economy, Sharia, Ownership, Property.

Abstract

The advancement of the data-driven digital economy has established personal data as a strategic economic asset, while simultaneously precipitating a tension between its status as a privacy right and an economic commodity. Although modern legal frameworks prioritize data protection, the intricate issues of ownership and the distribution of economic value remain inadequately addressed, particularly within the paradigm of Islamic economic law, which classically restricts the concept of mal (property) to tangible objects or discernible benefits. This research aims to examine the status of personal data as mal, formulate a construction of milkiyyah (ownership), and analyze its implications for digital economic transactions. Utilizing a normative approach based on fiqh muamalah and conceptual analysis, this study demonstrates that personal data qualifies as mal ghair maddi (intangible property), as it fulfills the essential criteria of value, utility, and appropriability. Ownership, in principle, vests in the individual as the primary owner, whereas platforms possess only limited utilization rights contingent upon consent, thereby giving rise to a "layered ownership" model. Data-driven transactions can be structured through ijarah (leasing) or data licensing, provided they satisfy the principles of clarity, mutual consent, and the absence of gharar (uncertainty). This study further critiques data governance models that lean toward exploitation and contradict Islamic principles of justice, while proposing a Sharia-based data ownership framework that integrates the principles of milkiyyah, manfa’ah (utility), and maslahah (public interest) as a foundation for developing a more equitable and ethical digital economy regulation.

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