One trend in sport that is becoming increasingly prominent is the capture (and subsequent processing) of athlete data via wearable devices. While this is usually done for medical, training or performance purposes, the desire on the part of sports bodies to identify new revenue streams is strong and there is no doubt that the demand for this kind of data is growing. Alongside the technological difficulties, one of the most significant obstacles to the successful commercialisation of that data is data protection. Nick White, Partner at Couchmans LLP, examines the treatment of athlete personal data gathered via wearable technology and does so through the lens of the recent general approach adopted by the Council of the European Union (‘the Council’) on 15 June 2015 concerning the proposed draft General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’).  (more…)