The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of international data sharing for healthcare decision-making, tracking, and vaccine development. However, data sharing faces complex ethical and legal challenges, particularly regarding the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The draft regulation for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) aims to address these issues by creating a legal framework for sharing electronic health data for secondary purposes. While this is a positive step, it must align with ethical principles and respect the expectations of data subjects. The paper critiques the EHDS, highlighting concerns such as the overemphasis on data protection, the erosion of the right to autonomy, and the lack of ethical oversight. It recommends incorporating ethical considerations, ensuring informed consent, and maintaining public trust through dynamic and interactive data governance processes. The authors propose a revised EHDS that balances data access with ethical principles, including opt-out mechanisms, ethical oversight, and transparent communication to ensure public acceptance and trust.The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of international data sharing for healthcare decision-making, tracking, and vaccine development. However, data sharing faces complex ethical and legal challenges, particularly regarding the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The draft regulation for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) aims to address these issues by creating a legal framework for sharing electronic health data for secondary purposes. While this is a positive step, it must align with ethical principles and respect the expectations of data subjects. The paper critiques the EHDS, highlighting concerns such as the overemphasis on data protection, the erosion of the right to autonomy, and the lack of ethical oversight. It recommends incorporating ethical considerations, ensuring informed consent, and maintaining public trust through dynamic and interactive data governance processes. The authors propose a revised EHDS that balances data access with ethical principles, including opt-out mechanisms, ethical oversight, and transparent communication to ensure public acceptance and trust.