Restitution After Termination for Breach of a Contract for the Supply of Digital Content and Services: A Tough Row to Hoe

While European contract law is traditionally based on a monetary economy, the recently adopted Digital Content and Services Directive has introduced certain novelties in this regard. It establishes a set of rules whereby a consumer obtains digital goods and services in exchange for their personal data. While this concept brought some new challenges throughout the contract lifecycle, this paper focuses on the restitutionary consequences of the terminating such contracts. Where money serves as the counter-performance, the Directive’s restitution rules are relatively clear and align closely with established EU private law. However, the situation is markedly different when restitution involves data. By examining the evolving trends in European private law, this paper seeks to conceptualise the restitution rules introduced by the Digital Content and Services Directive and to provide guidelines for their application and interpretation in practice.