Civil Liberties and Security in Cyberspace - Hoover Institution

Hoover Press : Cyber DP5 HPCYBE0500 06-11-:1 11:53:04 rev1 page 191
Civil Liberties and Security in Cyberspace
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Personal Data Flow” (1989). 13 The United Nations (UN) produced
“Guidelines for the Regulation of Computerized Personal Data Files”
(1989). 14 These documents establish principles of minimum privacy
guarantees for personal information at all stages of its collection,
storage, and dissemination by other parties. They also create new
rights for “data subjects”—those whose data are collected and manipulated
by government agencies, businesses, and so on—requiring that
accurate and up-to-date personal information must be obtained fairly
and lawfully, used only for the original, intended purpose, and destroyed
after the purpose is achieved. Data subjects are granted the
right to access and amend information about them.
The 1995 European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive established
a regulatory framework for free movement of personal data,
while allowing individual EU countries to exercise their unique approaches
to implementation. “Data subjects” are guaranteed the right
to know where the data originated, the right to have inaccurate data
corrected, the right of appeal in the case of unlawful processing, and
the right to deny permission to use data under certain circumstances. 15
The 1999 COE Recommendation provides guidelines for the protection
of privacy on the Internet. 16 Whereas the COE and UN guidelines
13. The Convention (ETS no. 108, January 28, 1981, Entry into force: October
1, 1985) has since become law in over twenty countries. See “Privacy and Human
Rights: An International Survey of Privacy Laws and Developments,” Electronic Privacy
Information Center (EPIC) in association with Privacy International (1999), p.
10.
14. UN GA Res. 44/132, 44 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 211, UN Doc. A/44/
49 (1989).
15. Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council “On the
protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the
free movement of such data.” “Council Definitively Adopts Directive on Protection
of Personal Data,” European Commission Press Release: IP/95/822, July 25, 1995.
16. Recommendation no. R(99)5 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States
for the “Protection of Privacy on the Internet: Guidelines for the protection of individuals
with regard to the collection and processing of personal data on information
highways,” adopted by the Committee of Ministers at the 660th meeting of the
Ministers’ Deputies, February 23, 1999. The text of the Recommendation can be
viewed at http://www.coe.fr/cm/ta/rec/1999/99r5.htm.