Data Protection

efamro and ESOMAR were invited by the European Commission to send a representative to this meeting on July 1. This was a follow up to the public consultation launched in 2009 on the review of the data protection regulatory framework to which efamro and ESOMAR submitted a joint response.

Prior to the meeting, the Commission circulated 60 questions to guide the discussion at the meeting. The agenda also provided for a presentation by the Commission on the state of play of the revision of the directive, but at the meeting no presentation was given. Instead, Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Head of Department C3 (Data Protection) in the newly formed DG Justice, announced that the Commission was “in listening mode” and declined to answer direct questions on the Commission’s position during the course of the day’s discussion.

There was extensive discussion amongst participants on issues surrounding the rights of data subjects, with topics in relation to consent, transparency and the role of self regulation being of particular interest to research.

The Commission has said that it will accept written submissions on the questions discussed during the meeting, to be received by 16 July 2010. 

 

The background paper for the meeting is available at

The webcast of the meeting is available from the same page until July 31.

UPDATED: efamro and ESOMAR  have made a joint submission in response to a number of key questions in the questionnaire. The document is available in the Consultations section of the website.