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Achieving Personal Data Protection in the European Union[Note 1. The authors acknowledge the comments of two anonymous referees ...]
Author(s) -
Pearce Graham,
Platten Nicholas
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5965.00138
Subject(s) - data protection act 1998 , european union , business , personally identifiable information , privacy policy , information privacy , internet privacy , general data protection regulation , international trade , computer security , computer science
Actions aimed at exploiting the benefits of information and communication technologies have become a major focus of European Community (EC) policy.The new technologies offer considerable benefits to consumers, businesses and governments, but there is growing concern that their widespread use may threaten the privacy of personal information. Increases in transborder data flows, within the EC and globally, imply that a EC‐wide, and ultimately a global, approach is more appropriate than one based upon national rules. This article examines the evolution of EC personal data protection policies and concludes that, whilst considerable progress has been made towards establishing a regulatory framework, advances in technology and continuing variations in national responses seeking to protect personal privacy, are major obstacles to achieving data protection equivalence, both within the EC and in third countries.