Balancing privacy with the need to protect

Ever since public and private bodies began storing personal data there has been a tension between what information should be kept on file and privacy concerns about what might be done with that information.

Ever since public and private bodies began storing personal data there has been a tension between what information should be kept on file and privacy concerns about what might be done with that information.

Some European governments have addressed the concerns of citizens by implementing data protection laws while the EU has also introduced European-wide rules.

EU data protection legislation says information must be processed for legitimate reasons, must be accurate and should not be stored for longer than is necessary. Information cannot be passed on to other bodies without consent and citizens have a right to consult and correct the information about them.

Each member state has a commissioner for data protection to whom individuals can complain if they feel their rights are not being safeguarded. There is also a European Data Protection Supervisor, currently Peter Hustinx, who gives advice on laws the EU wishes to introduce in this area.

The EU has signed deals with the US, Canada and Australia to transfer airline passenger data for the purpose of checking who is entering their country and whether they could pose a security risk.

Despite the concerns of the European Parliament over the deal with the US, Michael Chertoff, director of the US department for homeland security, has said EU laws and concerns about data protection are hampering efforts to share information among relevant US security agencies and therefore catch terrorists.

Hustinx last week hit back at this notion and defended the "misconception that protection of privacy and personal data holds back the fight against terrorism and organised crime".

Though the US has been demanding more information from Europe, EU states themselves have moved to step up security through data gathering with the data retention directive. The law, approved by member states in February, requires telecommun-ications companies to keep phone and internet records of their customers for up to two years to help police authorities fight organised crime and terrorism.

A big test for the EU will come later this year when ministers will try to reach a compromise on data protection relating to security and intelligence services - an area in which the EU does not have competence. "The key will be what it covers," says Hugo Brady, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. "Does the EU have the right to set down standards for member states’ internal security agencies?"

Ever since public and private bodies began storing personal data there has been a tension between what information should be kept on file and privacy concerns about what might be done with that information.