Brussels, 17/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at a conference on privacy at the European Parliament on Wednesday 16 March, Viviane Reding, the European fundamental rights commissioner, unveiled her legislative aspirations for the protection of personal data to update the 1995 directive currently in effect. The Commission, she pointed out, would work according to “four pillars”: - “the right to be forgotten” allowing people to delete online data regarding them; - greater transparency on the part of companies that use data; - the setting in place of confidentiality parameters to ensure that only data authorised by the owners will be used; - and ensuring that all companies operating in the EU follow European data protection rules. This last pillar therefore concerns foreign research engines operating in the EU, such as Google or Facebook.
“I am a firm believer in the necessity of enhancing individuals' control over their own data”, Reding stressed, saying: “When modernising the legislation, I want to explicitly clarify that people shall have the right - and not only the 'possibility' - to withdraw their consent to data processing”. The commissioner took the view that: “The burden of proof should be on data controllers - those who process your personal data. They must prove that they need to keep the data rather than individuals having to prove that collecting their data is not necessary”. Furthermore, when data is used for purposes other than those for which a person initially gave his/her consent or authorisation, the owner of the data should give his/her further explicit consent to authorise use of the data. Finally, Reding said, these standards should apply independently of the region of the world where data is processed. For example, “a US-based social network company that has millions of active users in Europe needs to comply with EU rules”. (S.P./transl.jl)