CALL FOR EVIDENCE ON THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S DATA PROTECTION PROPOSALS

The Government is seeking evidence on the  new legislative proposals for data protection, which were published by the European Commission on 25 January 2012. Responses are due by 6 March 2012 and can be submitted online here. The European Commission aims to have a final agreed legislative framework by 2014.

The European Commission has published in draft both a Regulation and a Directive. The proposed Regulation will set out a general EU framework for data protection to replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive, which is implemented into UK law by the Data Protection Act 1998. The proposed Directive will cover the protection of personal data processed for the purposes of prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of criminal offences and related judicial activities (to replace the existing Data Protection Framework Decision).  For those of you who have not looked  at the proposals yet, the Government’s Call for Evidence is a good place to start for a summary.

Rachel Kamm