Information processing

EU data regulation: protecting the new oil

10 November Nov 2015 1424 10 November 2015

Many Europeans have expressed concerns about not having control over the personal data they provide online. The EU parliament is working on a reform to improve data security, but a one size-fits-all approach does not make everybody happy

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Data Protection
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Many Europeans have expressed concerns about not having control over the personal data they provide online. The EU parliament is working on a reform to improve data security, but a one size-fits-all approach does not make everybody happy

Data is the new oil, someone said, and in a globalised digital economy, protecting our privacy has never been so important. However, according to the Special Eurobarometer on Data Protection published last June, European citizens do not feel safe. Two-thirds of the respondents said they are concerned about not having complete control over the information they provide online and, in the aftermath of the Snowden scandal, half of all Europeans are well aware of the revelations concerning mass data collection by governments and 46 per cent said that these revelations undermined the trust they had in how their online personal data is used. The concerns of European citizens do not seem to be unfounded, as Marju Lauristin, Vice-Chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and shadow rapporteur on data regulation noted in an article published in Parliament Magazine, in March 2015.
“The reason we urgently need a new legal framework is clear when you consider that 20 years ago, when the 1995 data protection directive was adopted, we lived in a world of balance sheets, big heavy computers and the first mobile phones,” she observed.

Shadow Rapporteur Data Regulation & EPP MEP Axel Voss told Vita International that the new regulation is precisely aimed at catching up with the digital world. “We are trying to allow citizens to have a better control over their data, while strengthening the rights of the individuals but, at the same time trying to leave the companies’ business models intact,” said Voss. “The Regulation in fact will establish a single, pan-European law for data protection, replacing the current inconsistent patchwork of national laws.”

There will be one single supervisory authority, which should make it easier for companies to do business in the EU and for citizens to get their personal data protected. However, this one-size-fits-all approach does not make everybody happy. Among the most criticised aspects of the reform are restrictions on the use of private health data. “On the one hand, pharmaceutical companies collect personal data for commercial purposes, but on the other hand, this information could be used to further valuable research. Of course, sometimes even a fully commercial purpose, such as the sale of a new drug to treat cancer pain, may serve the public interest,” noted Lauristin. Voss agrees that more could have been done. “We could be more ambitious regarding the future of data and data processing, but politically this is the best we can do right now,” he said.

This article was originally published in Effect the magazine of the European Foundation Centre.