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European Commission proposal to strengthen privacy

November 7, 2010

With a press release on 4 November, the European Commission announced it has presented a strategy for the protection of personal data and privacy in Europe.

In particular, we show the steps of the press release indicates that the objectives of:

- Strengthening the rights of individuals so that the collection and use of personal data are strictly necessary. Interested parties must be informed clearly and Transparent about how, why and by whom their data is collected and used. They should be able to give informed consent to treatment, for example when surfing the internet, and have the "right to oblivion" when their data are no longer needed or if they want to have it deleted;
- Strengthen the "internal market" by reducing administrative burdens for companies and ensuring a level playing field. The differences in the implementation of EU data protection rules and the lack of clarity regarding the applicable national law hamper the free movement of personal data throughout the EU and raise costs;
- Revising the rules for data protection in police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters to ensure these areas in the protection of personal data. Under the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU now has the opportunity to lay down comprehensive and consistent data protection for all sectors, including police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, where specific needs will of course be considered. According to the review, data retained for law enforcement purposes should be covered by the new legal framework. The Commission has also initiated a revision of the Directive on the retention of data from 2006, according to which companies must retain communications traffic data for a period of between six months and two years;
- A high level of protection for data transferred outside the EU through simplified procedures and better for international data transfers. The EU should pursue the same level of protection in cooperation with third countries and promote high international standards of data protection;
- Implement policies more effectively by strengthening and further harmonizing the role and powers of data protection authorities. Strengthened cooperation and coordination are absolutely necessary for ensuring a more consistent application of rules of data protection in the single market.

This is certainly an important announcement, because it is jointly opened a public consultation is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/news/consulting_public/news_consulting_0006_en.htm

In 2011, the Commission will, therefore, "its proposals for a new general legal framework on data protection to be negotiated and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council."

Among the most significant aspects emerge: a) the purpose of strengthening the right of people to ensure greater control of personal data in order to decide whether to cancel (right to oblivion), b) open to question on the retention of data c) the problem of data transferred outside the EU; c) increased powers to the Authority. The Commission seems to have become aware of what specific action it is important to guarantee each person the right to control and use their personal data. In this context, the subject becomes central and primary to any other aspect, with the result that must be assured of protection prior to the process that concerns the processing of data. This is a much more advanced compared to the traditional one that is also compatible with the resolution of Privacy by Design (96) recently adopted by the 32 th Conference of the World Guarantors. In the opinion of this writer can say that it is implementing the privacy of the evolutionary process, so that we can talk about - like the web - even in terms of Policy 3.0.

It will, therefore, should - as a first step - the public consultation and await further developments.