Nowadays the exchange of information across the globe has become easier and faster. An individual’s personal data – e-mail, photos and electronic agendas – may be created in the UK using software hosted in Germany; processed in India; stored in Poland and accessed in Spain by an Italian citizen.
This rapid increase in information flows around the world presents a big challenge for individuals’ rights to personal data privacy. Data protection issues, including their cross-border dimension, affect people every day – at work, in dealing with public authorities, when buying goods or services, or when travelling or surfing the internet.
On Data Protection Day – January 28 – the Council of Europe and the European Commission are joining forces to promote the fundamental right to data protection.
The annual Data Protection Day aims to give people the chance to understand what personal data is collected and processed about them and why, and what their rights are with respect to this processing.
The EU’s data protection rules are more than 15 years old. They have stood the test of time, but now they need to be modernised to reflect the new technological landscape. The European Commission will propose changes to the 1995 Data Protection Directive later this year.
“Effective data protection is vital for our democracies and underpins other fundamental rights and freedoms,” said European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding, responsible for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship. “We need to balance privacy concerns with the free flow of information, which helps create economic opportunities. These are the questions I want to address with our proposals to modernise the EU’s data protection rules during 2011.”
January 28 also marked the 30th anniversary of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108).
“Confronted with the challenges raised by the rapid development of information technology, privacy rights matter more than ever. The Data Protection Convention has been a key tool for ensuring this right for 30 years and must be adapted to ensure this for the next 30 years as well,” secretary general Thorbjørn Jagland said, emphasising “the need for a truly international framework that is human rights based, flexible, transparent and inclusive.”
Issues of privacy and data protection have not been far from the headlines in recent years. Technology has been advancing at an exponential rate, bringing dramatic changes in the way that personal data is used to provide goods and services. This applies especially to the online environment – from banking and travel to social networking. The sharing of personal data is also part of ensuring a secure and safe society.
http://www.data-protection-day.net/