The regime of data protection and free flow of information in Europe with particular reference to the impact of the EU directive 95/46

Abstract

Data protection is such an important aspect of privacy that the two tern1s are thought to be coterminous at times. The two notions do cover similar ground but they also embrace areas beyond the reach of the other. With the dawn of computer technology the processing of data or information has assumed new and unprecedented dimensions. Behind the enthusiasm for the potential benefits of the new technology lurks the fear that people or entities. whether public or private. follow every trace of other people's lives. gather information about them and use it for their own purposes. The threats to one's privacy. to the right to decide what information about oneself should be let known to others. hence to the integrity of the individual is real and can not be underestimated. In the past thirty years. as the technology developed and the privacy concerns gre\V accordingly, States were moved to impose some form of control upon the use of personal information through law. European States enacted legislation to provide protection for their citizens but the varying levels of protection that emerged made States reluctant to allow complete freedom of transfer of personal inforn1ation across borders. As the flo\v of information across borders became crucial to economic development. understandable concerns for the fundamental rights of citizens threatened to restrict it severely. Reconciling these two opposing currents thus required international solutions. This work analyses the European activity in this field. The Council of Europe Convention laid the ground for the most important international instrument of data protection to date. namely, the EU Data Protection Directive. This work analyses the development of the data protection regime on the international and European plane and particularly examines the impact of the Directive. It demonstrates that the aim of achieving harmonisation of data protection law in Europe is not beyond reach. as EU Member States implement the Directive. furthermore it demonstrates that although advancing technology poses new threats to data protection. the Directive's provisions are equipped to sustain the impact in most spheres. In other spheres they might prove inadequate.