Brussels, 10/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 9 October, the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published, by request of the European Parliament, an opinion on the new reform of European personal data protection, which was presented by European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding in January of this year. In a press release, the agency welcomes these new rules - a regulation and a directive on the specific treatment of personal data in the framework of police and legal cooperation - vital at a time when everything is in digital format. It did, however, express a few misgivings, notably on the specific treatment for the categories of so-called “sensitive” data, which could cover sexual orientation, for example, the FRA suggests.
In general, the agency is of the opinion that in view of the fact that the reform currently being discussed could violate certain fundamental rights, it would be useful to include more references to the Charter, making sure that these are carried out in the framework of the prescriptions of the Charter. Similarly, the FRA stresses that certain delegated acts entrusted to the Commission - and which are a problem for several member states due to their sheer number - could also contravene fundamental rights, and here again, a reference to the framework of the Charter could be included. More specific references to the observation of all fundamental rights could also be considered in the provisions on the transfer of data to third countries, the FRA argues. Its analysis covers every aspect of the reform, from access to justice through to effective redress mechanisms and the independence of the national data protection authorities. The reform called for by Reding aims to give greater powers to internet users over their data and to subject businesses to more obligations, such as obtaining the explicit consent of internet users when using their data. It also wishes to reinforce data-processing modes in the framework of international police and legal cooperation agreements and wishes to add safeguards to the transfer of data to third countries. (SP/transl.fl)