Data protection

The EU Commission yesterday presented proposals to revise EU rules on data protection [1]. The Greens welcomed the proposals, with Green data protection spokesperson Jan Philipp Albrecht (MEP, Germany) saying:

"The long-awaited proposals by the Commission are a step in the right direction: data protection as a European fundamental right must be strengthened. This includes better funding for data protection authorities and the closure of loopholes in legal protection in the use of data by police and judicial authorities. Clear limits for the storage and usage of personal data are urgently needed. Only strict deletion periods and purpose limitations can prevent uncontrolled profiling and data-mining by companies or surveillance agencies. EU governments must recognise this and support the direction of these proposals.

"The external aspect of data protection also needs clear and enforceable rules. As long as there is no global binding data protection convention, it is both logical and essential to apply EU law to external companies or authorities that process European data. This means any data transfers to third countries must be subject to the same level of protection guaranteed under EU law. The present assessment of an 'adequate' level of protection in the receiving state must therefore be improved and should in the future be subject to an equal level of protection. As the European Parliament's rapporteur, I support Commissioner Reding in preparing a strong data protection agreement with the United States. In the long run, such individual measures will not suffice however. We need European data protection rules that also offer reliable international protection to European citizens."

[1] Communication on the revision of the EU Data Protection Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/news/consulting_public/0006/com_2010_609_en.pdf