On Thursday 4 May, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli, from Italy, presented his mid-term report to the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee. He explained to MEPs that EDPS had been used on far more occasions in 2016 than in other previous years.
He explained that the increased number of cases (173 in 2016, according to the report -20% more than in 2015) was not due to worsening problems but because of an increased awareness among people regarding their digital freedoms. He also said that it was something of a, “generalised trend where individuals are increasingly aware and concerned about their digital freedoms being respected”. Out of these 173 complaints, 145 were, nonetheless, deemed inadmissible (they fell within the scope of national law).
The Supervisor said that overall, 2016 had been a positive year for personal data protection and that with the general regulation and directive on the police and legal framework, “We have built something solid”. According to Mr Buttarelli these instruments mean that the EU is therefore in first place when it comes to protecting fundamental rights in the digital age.
He also said that his activities were increasingly diversified and that attention focused on, for example, the “e-privacy” directive. He explained that given that this was a broader activity, there would possibly be an increasing number of questions than there was for the general regulation on personal data protection or the interoperability of information systems, a theme about which he will also be speaking.
In reply to questions from a number of MEPs, the European Supervisor also returned to the issue of the Privacy Shield, the transatlantic mechanism for protecting personal data transferred for commercial purposes. He said that this was already an instrument of the past and that in the long-term they would need to provide a more ambitious and more solid instrument.
The Controller explained that two weeks ago he was in Washington and that it was clear that the EU was still awaiting “signs” from the US that it wanted to develop effective cooperation. He also said that the US teams are not yet ready to carry out a joint Privacy Shield assessment at the end of the summer. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)