Certification Exam Flashcards
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Human Rights Declaration)
10 December 1948
Adopted by United Nations General Assembly (non-binding)
Specific provisions for the right to a private life and freedom of expression
Influenced European data protection laws/standards
Article 12: Right to a private life
Article 19: Right to freedom of expression
Article 29(2): rights are not absolute and a balance should be struck
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
Council of Europe
based on Human Rights Declaration
1953
International treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms
Enforced by European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg)
Article 8: rights of individuals
Article 10: rights of freedom of expression and sharing info and ideas across national boundaries
Article 10(2): promotes balance between 8 and 10
OECD Guidelines for the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data
1980
Aimed to facilitate data flows and protect personal data in a global economy
Updated in 2013 - basic data protection principles
Council of Europe Convention (Convention 108)
Opened for signatures in 1981
Treaty among MS of the Council of Europe
First data protection instrument for several Council of Europe member states
Requires signatories to apply the principles in their domestic legislation
Late 1980s, only a small number of states had ratified it, and even those had a fragmented approach
EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC)
European Commission
Set out general data protection principles and obligations, requiring EU member states to implement them
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (European Union Institutions)
Comprehensive collection of individuals’ rights, including the fundamental right to the protection of personal data
EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Directive) (adopted 2002, amended 2009)
Legally binding on EU member states, requires local implementation
Applies to processing of personal data through public electronic communications services and networks in the EU
Treaty of Lisbon (2009)
Aim is to strengthen and improve the core structures of the EU and help it to functional more efficiently.
Gave the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU full legal effect in the EU
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
Upholds data protection laws through its enforcement of the ECHR and Convention 108
Not part of the EU
Council of Europe v. European Union
Two separate institutions
Council of Europe - international organization with 47 member states
EU - economic and political union with 27 member states
All member states of the EU belong to the Council of Europe (though not a prerequisite for membership)
European Economic Area (EEA)
Based on the agreement of the EEA of 1994, which allows members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to participate fully in the EU’s internal market
Composed of 27 EU member states and 3 EFTA member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - not EU member states)
European Parliament
Only European institution whose members are directly elected
3 primary responsibilities: legislative development, supervisory oversight of other institutions, and development of the budget
European Council
Defines the EU’s priorities and sets political direction
Composed of headd of state or government of all EU countries, the European Council President, the European Commission President and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Council of the EU
Along with Parliament, focuses on legislative decision-making
Meetings are attended by one minister from each member state (changes based on issue)
Shares legislative power with Parliament
Legislation is proposed by Commission before it is examined by the Council of the EU and Parliament
European Commission
Implements the EU’s decisions and policies
Exclusive competence to propose legislation
Most active EU institution in the area of data protection
One commissioner per member state who pledges to respect the EU Treaties
Court of Justice of the EU
Luxembourg
Judicial body of the EU
Makes decisions on issues of EU law and enforces decisions
Comprises the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the General Court
Provides clarification of EU law to national courts to assist in upholding EU law
DP Directive v. GDPR
Directive places obligations on MS whose governments then implement the directive into their local law
Regulation is directly applicable and enforceable as law in every EU member state (no need for local imp)
DP Directive was transposed into 28 national laws
GDPR - one set of data protection rules for all EU MS
Despite harmonization of data protection rules, the GDPR allows member states a degree of tailoring (about 50 provisions)
European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
Established by GDPR, replaced Article 29 WP
Independent European body which contributes to the consistent application of data protection rules throughout the EU and promotes cooperation between the EU’s data protection authorities
Composed of reps of the national DPAs and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
ePrivacy Directive and GDPR (Interplay)
EDPB has issued opinion regarding how the ePrivacy Directive works within the context of the GDPR, relating to processing that triggers the material scope of both ePrivacy Directive and GDPR
Co-existence - in cases where lex specialis does not apply, general rue will apply (lex generalis)
To complement - several ePrivacy Directive provisions complement GDPR provisions
Article 95 of GDPR - aims to avoid imposition of unnecessary admin burdens upon controllers who would otherwise be subject to similar but not quite identical admin burdens
To particularise - (lex specialis principe) special provisions prevail over general rules
Personal data
Article 4(1) of GDPR - any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person
Any information: literal - from a name to a location
Relating to: info’s purpose and impact on someone’s privacy rights
Identified: individual person has been named or singled out; identifiable: indirect identification, taking into account all the “means reasonably likely to be used” to identify a person (Recital 26)
Natural person: real human being, distinguished from a corporation (referred to as “data subject”)
Personal data elements
Pieces of data that happen to be personal information
Examples: gender, age, DOB, marital status, citizenship, languages spoken, veteran status
May relate to an individual’s employment or association with an organization (address, phone number, email, internal ID #, government based ID #, identify verification info)
Aggregation of data elements can make personal data richer and harder to de-identify.
Cookie
Small text file stored on a client machine that may later be retrieved by a web server from the machine
Anonymous data
Not related to an identified or identifiable natural person (rendered unidentifiable and not protected by GDPR)
Pseudonymous data
Not fully anonymous (subject to GDPR)
Undergone a process that has detached aspects of the data attributable to a specific individual (like creating an alias), but the personal data is still retrievable
Security measure to make the use of the data less risky