Privacy regulators call for data protection guarantees for policing and justice matters

The opinion was voiced at the European data protection commissioners' spring conference earlier this week, where the delegates called for data protection reforms to be proposed by the European Commission to provide "an effective and consistent implementation of fundamental rights in a global environment".

Data protection authorities from EU countries expressed concern about the increasing use by police and judicial authorities of personal data.

The trend for the police and justice authorities to re-use private sector personal data in the pursuit of law enforcement is concerning, the commissioners said.

The commissioners suggest that clauses could be written into the European Commission's impending new data protection laws allowing for the specifics of law enforcement but upholding an individual's right to personal data protection.

Any clauses in the framework should not dilute the overall level of data protection, the commissioners said. (18KB / 2 pages).

European data protection commissioners are the heads of the national data protection authorities (DPAs) of the European Union member states and a number of other non-member European states, including Switzerland and Albania.
 
Each Commissioner represents their data protection authority. In addition, in some countries there can be commissioners at regional level, such as in Germany for the sixteen partly sovereign Länder states.

Pinsent Masons and AmberhawkTraining will be running a data protection law update session on 11 April. Details and booking information (4-page / 164KB PDF)