Brussels, 14/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Thursday 14 April, the members of the EP definitively approved (without a vote) new European rules on the protection of personal data, specifically the general regulation on the protection of data and the directive on the treatment of personal data by police and judicial authorities.
The committee on civil liberties approved these on 12 April (see EUROPE 11529). The EP's work took four years, the European Commission having presented its reform of the current 1995 directive on 25 January 2012.
As well as the objective of bringing the rules into line with the Internet, the general regulation aims to give the citizens more power over the use and treatment of their personal data. They can expect to be asked for their consent more frequently and will benefit from a digital right to be forgotten, by dint of having their data deleted (counterparties will be set in place to preserve the freedom of the press).
“Thanks to this general regulation, having a high and uniform level of data protection across the EU will become a reality. This is a victory for the Parliament and a proud European 'yes' to very strong consumer rights and competition in the digital age. The citizens will be able to decide for themselves which personal information they wish to share”, said the rapporteur, Jan-Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany).
The new rules include: provisions on the right to be forgotten; clear and explicit consent of the person concerned for the use of his or her personal data; the right to transfer one's data to another service provider; the right to be informed in the event of data hacking; the guarantee that policies on privacy will be explained in clear and comprehensible language; stricter implementation and fines of up to 4% of the annual turnover of companies, in order to discourage any flouting of the rules, the EP sums up in a press release.
As for the directive, this will lay down minimum standards for the first time regarding the treatment of data for police purposes within each member state. “The new rules aim to protect individuals, victim, criminal and witness alike, by laying down clear rights and limits for the transfer of data for the purposes of the prevention and detection of crimes, investigations and proceedings in this matter or the execution of criminal sanctions”.
“The main problem with terrorist attacks and other trans-national crimes is that the law-enforcement authorities of the member states are reluctant to exchange valuable information”, explained the rapporteur, Marju Lauristin (S&D, Estonia). “By laying down European standards and the exchange of information between the law-enforcement authorities, the directive on data protection will become a powerful and valuable instrument to help the authorities easily and effectively to transfer personal data in full respect of the fundamental right to privacy”, she added.
Both instruments will be in force within two years. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)