Following up on yesterday's post, today's news brings the idea of a Data Protection Compact for Europe. At the occasion of Data Protection Day 2014, EU Commissioner Viviane Reding called for a Compact based on the following eight principles:
1 "We
need the Data Protection Reform in the statute book. I wish to see full speed
on data protection in 2014."
2 "The
reform should not distinguish between the private and the public sector.
Citizens would simply not understand a split in times when the public sector
collects, collates and sometimes even sells personal data. It is also a very
difficult distinction to draw when a local authority can buy storage space on a
private cloud."
3 "Laws
setting out data protection rules or affecting privacy require public debate
because they relate to civil liberties online."
4 "Data
collection should be targeted and limited to what is proportionate to the
objectives that have been set. Blanket surveillance of electronic
communications data is not acceptable."
5 "Laws
need to be clear and laws need to be kept up to date. It cannot be that States
rely on outdated rules, drafted in a different technological age, to frame
modern surveillance programmes."
6 "National
security should be invoked sparingly. It should be the exception, rather than
the rule."
7 "Without
a role for judicial authorities, there can be no real oversight. Executive
oversight is good. Parliamentary oversight is necessary. Judicial oversight is
key."
8 "A
message to our American friends. Data Protection rules should apply
irrespective of the nationality of the person concerned. Applying different
standards to nationals and non-nationals makes no sense in view of the open
nature of the internet."
The full text of Reding's speech is available here.