Brussels, 12/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - A seminar dedicated to the proposed Directive on the processing of data of a personal nature and the protection of the private life in the sector of electronic communications took place on Wednesday in the Parliament on the initiative of the Italian Radical Marco Cappato: - who was named EP rapporteur for this proposal. Among the participants are Erkki Liikanen, the Commissioner responsible for information society; - Stefano Rodota, President of the European working group on the protection of data and Director of the Italian authority for the protection of data; - Peter Hustinx, President of the Internet Task Force of the European working group mentioned above and Director of the Dutch authority for the protection of data; - Gregory Rhode, assistant to the Secretary of Trade for the United States.
Commissioner Erkki Liikanen presented the draft Directive that date back from last July. This is part of the "telecom package", a series of legislative proposal that must adapt the European regulatory framework for telecommunication to the changes due to the recent technological development and information society have increased the need to redefine the application of the principal of the individuals right to a private life, protected by the European Human Rights Convention and the new European Charter of Fundamental Rights. According to him, the Internet increases the vulnerability of the private life of consumers. "The aim is to ensure that the EU continues to have a regulatory framework promoting the development of competition, a high standards of services and communications infrastructure throughout Europe and the guarantee the granting to consumers of an equal share of profits", announced the Commissioner.
The proposed Directive introduces the following changes to the present system for the protection of the private life: a) neutrality: the Directive will apply to the transfer of information by any electronic communications system, regardless of the technology used (all providers of services will have to inform the users of the use of the data); b) the localisation of data: the technology use to localise the users will have to be submitted to their consent; c) public directories: the consumers have the right to determine if - and to what extent - their personal data can appear on directories; d) unsolicited e-mail from direct marketing (Spam): the Commission is encouraging the principal of an opt-in solution (choice for the consumer to receive them and not the opposite). It hopes on this issue "for a harmonised approach" and notes that five Member States have joined it in this move.
The taking of as position on the proposed Directive, the EU Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium announced on this points that "the establishment of a requirement for an opt-in would disadvantage European companies in the framework of global trade". It feels that the present provisions (Directive on distance contracts and Directives on electronic commerce) already resolve this problem and "establish an opt-out as a legal basis". Gregory Rhode adds on the sideline of the discussion how must cross border cooperation is important for legal issues linked to the protection of private data. He insists on the fact that this field cannot be dealt with in a unilateral manner by one country, even if the United States has adopted regulations in limited sectors such as financial services or medical information, there still exist deep divergences between the American approach, which is based upon self-regulation and that adopted by Europe, favouring the application of laws under the control of national authorities.