Lee A. Bygrave (red.) YULEX 2002 - Universitetet i Oslo

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108 Stephen K Karanja
ing data into SIS. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior has appointed a person
responsible for data protection and security in the national system. This
person is also responsible for data protection and security in SIS. Furthermore,
the responsibility for data protection in the police systems has been decentralised
to each of the 9 police districts, each of which has a person responsible for
data protection and security. The Ministry of the Interior has also appointed a
person responsible for security and data protection for SIRENE. This person is
answerable to the overall data protection officer at the Ministry. Procedures are
regulations and technical control systems such as rules and procedures for deletion,
updating, correction and access logs, as discussed above. However, a very
important procedure not yet discussed is reporting. Reporting entails the making
of documentation such as annual reports, educational material and other
statistical material. This seemed completely absent in the Austrian SIS control
systems. Such documentation is important for external control and transparency
in the system (as discussed below).
7.3 External Control
External control refers to some form of institution or mechanism, independent
of the system, such as supervision, audit and parliamentary and judicial
bodies. The importance of external control is not to replace internal control,
which by all means is the most effective safeguard if it works properly, but to
ensure that internal controls are working effectively. 23 The Schengen Convention
provides for supervision (see Articles 114 & 115) as a form of external
control, and judicial control was included by the Amsterdam Treaty during
the incorporation of Schengen into the EU legal framework. 24 A third form of
external control that may be added is the individual right of access to data
(Article 109). I regard the right of access as a form of external control, since
it is not exercisable without the initiative of a data subject who is external to
the system. I now discuss these controls in relation to the findings from the
interviews.
7.3.1 Supervision
The Schengen Convention provides for supervision at two levels: national
(Article 114) and joint (Article 115). As regards national supervision, the
Schengen Convention requires that each Contracting Party appoints a national
authority to perform the task of supervising the national section of SIS,
independently and in accordance with national law. In Austria, the DPC is
23 Gregory & Horn, supra n 19.
24 Title IV, Article 68(2) of the EC Treaty and Title VI, Article 35(5)-(6) of the EU Treaty.