Europe’s justice chief Viviane Reding has called for new rules to give citizens more control of their online personal data, with the “right to be forgotten” from Facebook or Google.
Ms Reding unveiled proposals to update a European Union rule on data protection that dates back to 1995, years before the proliferation of social networking websites and web search engines.
“The protection of personal data is a fundamental right,” the European Justice Commissioner said.
“To guarantee this right, we need clear and consistent data protection rules. We also need to bring our laws up to date with the challenges raised by new technologies and globalisation,” she said.
Her services want people to reclaim ownership of their digital imprint, including photographs, in an age when many users complain it is virtually impossible to avoid a permanent trace being left on mainframe computer servers the world over.
“People should be able to give their informed consent to the processing of their personal data, for example when surfing online, and should have the ‘right to be forgotten’ when their data is no longer needed or they want their data to be deleted,” the European Commission said.
There are growing fears about Facebook’s influence on people’s careers and social and private lives, including failed job interviews and divorces, with cases of “Facebook suicide” increasing. The Commission launched a two-month public consultation on its proposals with the aim of drafting legislation in 2011.
The EU executive wants to limit the collection and use of personal data to the strict minimum necessary.
“Individuals should also be clearly informed in a transparent way on how, why, by whom, and for how long their data is collected and used,” the Commission said.
The Commission also wants to revise rules on protecting data in the police and criminal justice sphere and ensure a high level of protection for information shared beyond EU borders.
The European consumer rights group BEUC welcomed the proposals, saying: “Online business practices do not always respect the current data protection directive requirements and such breaches fuel a lack of consumer confidence.”
“The Commission has planted the flag showing that the consumer’s right to privacy should not be undermined merely because it has become easier and more profitable to break it in the virtual world,” said BEUC director general Monique Goyens.
The Association for Competitive Technology, an industry group representing nearly 3,000 computer firms, said the proposals were a chance to fix a “patchwork of laws” that “hinders our potential to develop services for the entire European Union”.
“The lack of harmonisation of data protection rules creates enormous challenges for entrepreneurs who are trying to use emerging technologies to expand into new markets,” said ACT president Jonathan Zuck.