Body scanners versus privacy and data protection

In recent history, the world has experienced dramatic events which have had a substantial effect on the balance between human rights protection and security measures. Body scanners installed at airports are intended to protect our lives. But at the same time they have a serious impact on privacy and data protection. The international legislation allows limiting people’s rights and freedoms, but only if it is in accordance with the law and is proportionate and necessary for national security, public safety and for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. Do body scanners respect these principles? The article examines the current situation, its background and future prospects. It discusses and analyzes the key terms and legal instruments, problems, disputes and proposed “safeguards”. The work concludes by pointing out the unlawfulness of current regimes and sets forth perspective on the possible solutions.     

The legal construction of privacy and data protection

In this contribution, the authors explore the differences and interplays between the rights to privacy and data protection. They describe the two rights and come to the conclusion that they differ both formally and substantially, though overlaps are not to be excluded. Given these different yet not mutually exclusive scopes they then apply the rights to three case-studies (body-scanners, human enhancement technologies, genome sequencing), highlighting in each case potential legal differences concerning the scope of the rights, the role of consent, and the meaning of the proportionality test. Finally, and on the basis of these cases, the authors propose paths for articulating the two rights using the qualitative and quantitative thresholds of the two rights, which leads them to rethink the relationship between privacy and data protection, and ultimately, the status of data protection as a fundamental right.     

Citizens' perceptions of data protection and privacy in Europe

Data protection and privacy gain social importance as technology and data flows play an ever greater role in shaping social structure. Despite this, understanding of public opinion on these issues is conspicuously lacking. This article is a meta-analysis of public opinion surveys on data protection and privacy focussed on EU citizens. The article firstly considers the understanding and awareness of the legal framework for protection as a solid manifestation of the complex concepts of data protection and privacy. This is followed by a consideration of perceptions of privacy and data protection in relation to other social goals, focussing on the most visible of these contexts–the debate surrounding privacy, data protection and security. The article then considers how citizens perceive the ‘real world’ environment in which data processing takes place, before finally considering the public's perception and evaluation of the operation of framework against environment.     

Legal constraints for the protection of privacy and personal data in electronic evidence handling1

This paper describes the application of personal data protection rules in the process of e‐evidence handling. It focuses mainly on the application of Directive 95/46/EC rules to the digital environment. It also makes reference to the legal risks derived from the collection and processing of e‐evidence in violation of privacy and personal data protection law.     

Prescribing privacy: the uncertain role of the physician in the protection of patient privacy

Because medical records are now more comprehensive than ever before, they increasingly are being demanded for uses both inside and outside of the medical profession. Mr. Gellman contends that existing ethical and legal guidance is inadequate to aid physicians in dealing with the confidentiality issues raised when patient information is requested or demanded from them, and supports this contention by examining the dilemmas faced by physicians presented with such requests or demands. He concludes that ethical and judicial guidance will continue to be inadequate, and that the only practical way to develop suitable guidance is through legislation.     

Manipulation by algorithms. Exploring the triangle of unfair commercial practice,data protection,and privacy law

The optimisation of sales practices in consumer markets through machine learning not only harbours the potential to better match consumer preferences with products, but also risks to facilitate the exploitation of consumer weaknesses discovered via data analysis. More specifically, recent technological advances have brought us to the edge of mind-reading technologies, which automatically analyse mental states and adapt offers accordingly, in potentially manipulative ways. This article shows that, in market contexts, the challenges of manipulation by algorithm necessitate an integrated understanding of unfair commercial practice, data protection, and privacy law. It maps the interactions between these contiguous yet distinct fields of law, and draws on economics and computer science to develop a novel framework to deal with algorithmic influence. Furthermore, it critically discusses the Commission proposals for the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act, and suggests to complement them with more broadly applicable measures to mitigate algorithmic manipulation.     

Data protection: The future of privacy

The Art. 29 Working Party (hereinafter “Art. 29 WP”) is an influential body comprised of representatives from the Member State Data Protection Authorities² established under the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, has recently issued an opinion with the Working Party on Police and Justice. This is quite significant, since the opinion sets out some of the issues that will need to be addressed in the lead up to the revision of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.³ This comes at a time, when there have been discussions on the current application of the European Data Protection Directive to the internet,⁴ (such as social networking) and the recent European Commission’s consultation on the legal framework for the fundamental right to protection of personal data. Not least, there have been a number of cases brought before the European Court of Justice dealing with the partial implementation of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.⁵The aim of this paper is to consider in detail the issues set out by the Art. 29 WP and the likely challenges in revising the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.     

Pondering personal privacy: a pragmatic approach to the Fourth Amendment protection of privacy in the information age

As technology with surveillance capacities has advanced, the debate over the rights of the citizenry to be free from governmental breaches of personal privacy has intensified. Within the United States, government actions legally challenged as intrusions into personal privacy have been analyzed under the Fourth Amendment, but Supreme Court rulings in such cases lack a clear and consistent rationale. Additionally, while more than a dozen federal privacy statutes have been enacted, each piece of legislation pertains to a specific type of information (e.g. driver’s license information, education records, and financial records). There is no overarching federal legislation which protects the individual’s private affairs from warrantless government inspection. A key issue underlying the scope of the debate and the variation in court decisions and public policies pertinent to invasions of privacy by government agencies is the lack of a clear and cogent definition of ‘privacy.’ By means of a review of the evolution of legal protections of privacy under the Fourth Amendment and a review of the evolution of technology with surveillance applications, it is suggested that there is a need for a sound operational definition of privacy. As a starting point for an informed and pragmatic dialogue on this matter, an operational definition of privacy built upon extant case and statutory law is provided.     

论个人信用体系建设中对隐私权的法律保护

现代社会日益发展成为信用经济社会。因此,个人信用体系建设的重要性逐渐凸显出来。个人信用体系运营围绕的核心就在于个人的信用信息,而这无时不与个人的隐私相联系,进而牵涉到个人的隐私权保护问题。针对此问题,本文从信用记录的原则、范围、使用规定及个人信用记录的维护等方面提出了在个人信用体系建设立法中对个人隐私权保护的措施。     

网络空间个人信息的保护问题研究——兼论电子商务营销过程中消费者的隐私权保护

电子商务的兴起改变了传统的营销、交易方式。丰富的网络信息和个人数据使得服务商可以根据每个人的喜爱和偏好为消费者提供更具针对性的服务,从而极大方便了消费者对商品的选购。可以说,成功的电子商务营销离不开对个人数据资料的收集和处理。但是,这种个性化的营销也存在着个人数据资料被滥用的潜在危险。因此,如何在电子商务营销过程中加强对消费者隐私权的保护就成为当前亟待解决的问题。     

论临床教学实践与患者隐私权保护

医学教育临床教学实践要求对患者隐私权进行保护,临床教学实践必须获得患者的知情同意,并符合一定的构成要件。     

Protecting the privacy and security of sensitive customer data in the cloud

The global ubiquity of cloud computing may expose consumers' sensitive personal data to significant privacy and security threats. A critical challenge for the cloud computing industry is to earn consumers' trust by ensuring adequate privacy and security for sensitive consumer data. Regulating consumer privacy and security also challenges government enforcement of data protection laws that were designed with national borders in mind. From an information privacy perspective, this article analyses how well the regulatory frameworks in place in Europe and the United States help protect the privacy and security of sensitive consumer data in the cloud. It makes suggestions for regulatory reform to protect sensitive information in cloud computing environments and to remove regulatory constraints that limit the growth of this vibrant new industry.