Clifford, DamianVan Der Sype, Yung Shin2023-09-19http://hdl.handle.net/1885/299660In this article online dispute resolution (ODR) and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are assessed in relation to the protection of personal data. ODR and ADR schemes are mechanisms to settle low-cost e-commerce disputes out-of-court. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the suitability of online dispute resolution as an additional means to the existing mechanisms for data protection enforcement. In this discussion particular attention is given to services offered to users as ‘free’, but which instead process personal data as a condition on access (e.g. social networking sites). The second section examines data protection in the digital age, highlighting the key principles of data protection and the challenges associated with the existing enforcement mechanisms. The third section questions the suitability of online dispute resolution as a solution for data protection enforcement in the European Union. In order to avail of the EU regulated ODR mechanism to resolve data protection issues, data protection disputes must fall under the scope of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive and the Online Dispute Resolution Regulation. Following an analysis of the applicability of the framework in this context, the final part of this article focuses on the challenges associated with the application of ODR schemes to the enforcement of online data protection disputes.Damian Clifford’s contribution for this article was funded and created in the context of the Paris project (IWT-SBO project nr 110067) which he worked on during his period as a researcher at the University of Antwerp. IWT (www.iwt.be) is the Flemish government agency for Innovation by Science and Technology. Yung Shin Van Der Sype's contribution for this article was funded by the EU IST Seventh Framework Programme under the grant agreement number 318508 (MUSES project).application/pdfen-AU© 2015 The authorsOnline dispute resolutionAlternative dispute resolutionData protectionEnforcementEuropean Union201610.1016/j.clsr.2015.12.0142022-07-31