Definition of the problem, needs assessment and objectives of the project
Technology development over the last few years has raised the need for greater protection of personal data as data sharing and data collection has grown exponentially, and personal information made public by citizens continues to increase. In addition, economic and social integration, a direct consequence of market functioning, has led to a considerable increase in cross-border data flows even at a digital level, with the need to ensure a higher level of protection.
Regulation on data protection (EU Regulation 2016/679) and Directive on the protection of personal data processed for the purpose of combating criminal offenses (EU Directive 2016/680) will allow the updating and harmonization of the data protection framework in the following areas:
Technological evolution
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the constant technological development has made some methods of collecting, processing and using personal data obsolete, requiring replacement with other generations
Big Data
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for a long time, they are a true information asset; thanks to the new re-identification techniques, their potential also extends to anonymous data and not just those suitable to identify a person. Detailed information resulting from the use of this data may prejudice the privacy of the data subject
Right to be forgotten
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from the judgment of the Court of Justice on 13 May 2014, requests for de- indexing articles overloaded Google’s “desks” and those of the privacy authorities. The protection of the “right to be forgotten” implies repercussions on the right of freedom of expression and information. The issue is very delicate because, by contrasting two fundamental rights – on the one hand, the protection of data and on the other hand the right to expression and chronicle – the balancing of interests which from time to time must be weighed can not be discretionary but must respond to
precise criteria (e.g., lack of public interest in the acquisition of the news and not actuality of the news)
Social network
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due to the widespread use of the social networking phenomenon, public authorities have repeatedly stressed the importance of sensitizing users to social use, as often what happens on Facebook has an impact on the reputation of individuals and personal relationships, resulting in a real overlap between real life and digital life. In addition, once entered, data escapes the control of the subjects to which they refer and prevents it from spreading or obtaining a deletion becomes almost impossible, as often the data is stored on the servers of the company that offers the service, which can also use it for commercial purposes and marketing and profiling purposes. Therefore, the risks that arise are not limited to a violation of the right to privacy, but the published information may also be used to commit identity theft or trace passwords and other credentials
To this scenario, another circumstance is attached to the fact that the rules for the protection of personal data in Europe are not the same as those applicable outside the territory of the European Union.
In Europe, the right to the protection of personal data is recognized as a fundamental right (the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights) and the problem arises when the head of the data controller is located in States that don’t have a discipline equally warranted. Therefore, Regulation no. 2016/679 contains a clause that will overcome the problem of “what right to apply” in the case of different regulations, by establishing a single discipline to which any person offering goods and services to any citizen of the European Union, even if not established in its territory.
For these reasons, the idea of the SAFE HARBOR project is born, which seeks to tackle the delicate problem of legal training of European legal practitioners to enhance knowledge of EU substantive and procedural law in the specific area of the right to the processing of personal data, for better harmonization with the national legal systems of the Member States.