Council of Europe and Data Protection: Free Flow of Information Versus Privacy (From Computerization in the Management of the Criminal Justice System: Proceedings of the Workshop and the Symposium on Computerization of Criminal Justice Information at the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Preventi

• NCJ Number: 167624
• Author(s): P Csonka
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: Finland

Annotation

The accomplishments, advice, and assistance of the Council of Europe in the area of protecting human rights directly influence efforts in European countries to protect personal data; protecting personal data has become one of the essential elements in respecting people's privacy.

Abstract

The European Court of Human Rights has developed a comprehensive case law with respect to basic civil and political freedoms. European countries have enacted many law reforms to be consistent with this case law. The case law related to Article 8 (the right to respect to private life) and Article 10 (freedom of information) of the European Convention on Human Rights relates directly to government policies related to data protection. The Council of Europe addressed the challenge of information technology from the earliest years of computer use. The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108) was opened for signature on January 28, 1981 and took effect in October 1985. Committees have also issued studies and made recommendations on this increasingly important issue since then. The Committee of Ministers adopted a Recommendation on Protection of Personal Data in the Area of Telecommunication Services in 1995. New recommendations are also being drafted on the protection of statistical data and the protection of medical data.