On 19 and 20 May the European Commission launched its
review of the current Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC with its conference
entitled Personal Data – more use, more
protection? The only research representative to attend the event
was Barry Ryan, efamro’s Director of Policy & Communication. Amongst the
speakers were Mr Jacques Barrot, Vice-president of
the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security; Alex
Türk, President of the Article 29 Working Group; and Peter Hustinx, European
Data Protection Supervisor.
Barry reports: “Each
of these speakers made clear that the focus of the data protection review is to
build on what has already been achieved and to strengthen where appropriate. The
current eight data protection principles were regarded as being sufficiently
robust and there is no desire to amend these.
However, there is real concern about the divergence in interpretation of
the Directive and the differences in the level of protection afforded to data
subjects across the Member States. This
will be an important issue for research as this suggests that there may be
changes on defining informed consent, and harmonisation of the interpretation
of ‘personal data’, ‘controller’ and ‘processor’.”
He continued: “The conference also looked ahead to the
challenges posed by new technologies in particular the rise of ubiquitous
computing and the internet of things where everyday objects will produce a
stream of information relating to the objects, people and places around
them. It has been indicated that future
rules will place emphasis on privacy by design, data minimisation and also the
default settings of such technologies to ensure the informed consent of users
and data subjects. Indeed this process
has already begun with the proposed introduction of new strengthened provisions
on protection against spyware and placing of cookies on users' devices in the
proposed regulatory framework for electronic communications.” (See efamro Members’ Area for detailed
guidance on this topic.)
Following the
conference the public consultation on the future of the Directive was launched
with the initial consultation deadline set for the end of December 2009. Stig Holmer, efamro President, said:
“For research, data protection is the single most important piece of European
legislation and it is vital that we make strong representations to protect the
sector and ensure current research exemptions are maintained. During September, efamro will be consulting
its members to gather views to feed into this important consultation. “
To read the full
conference report go to the efamro Members’ Area.