Pat Walshe, of Privacy Matters reminds us that “human rights have long mattered. From as far back as 1689, in Britain for example, human rights were considered something essential to being human, to our dignity and to protecting basic rights and freedoms (British Library, 2013). Rights and freedoms that today shape different dimensions of our lives – offline and online. From the right to express opinions, to the right to freely associate with others and to the freedom of assembly, to the freedom of religion, to the right to education, to the right to a fair trial, to the right to marry, and to the right to privacy, for example. Human rights matter. Everyday. Offline and online. They allow us to flourish as human beings.”
Human rights in more modern times took on global importance in 1948. In response to atrocities committed during the second world war, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to protect basic human rights that all people should have. This includes protection against arbitrary interference with an individual’s privacy, family, home or correspondence as per Article 12 of the UDHR.
In 1949, a number of European countries formed the Council of Europe (CoE) and that currently unifies 47 European member states. In 1950, the Council of Europe adopted the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), again to protect us in the future, against atrocities like those committed during the second world war. The ECHR incorporates key rights found in the UDHR and entered into force in 1953. The ECHR is the first international legally binding instrument protecting human rights. Of note is that all member states of the European Union (EU) have acceded to the ECHR.
Article 8 of the ECHR provides that everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life and their home and correspondence. It’s easy to see how such a right is intended to protect intimate aspects of a person’s life. Aspects that are easy to observe online.
While Article 8 of the ECHR protects the right privacy it also includes the right to data protection, given that the use of personal information about people not only impacts on their privacy, but also other rights and freedoms, as this course will touch on. To help protect individuals and their rights and freedoms and in particular the right to privacy, in 1981 the CoE adopted a set of principles and rules that apply to the processing of personal information about individuals. The principles and rules are known as Convention 108. The Convention was recently modernised to reflect changes in technology and data use that may adversely impact people’s rights. It is now known as Convention 108+
In 2000 the EU established the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The charter became legally binding on member states of the EU in 2009. Like the ECHR, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU CFR) provides that everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, home and communications (Article 7). Additionally, the EU CFR also provides that everyone has the right to the protection of their personal data (Article 8).
Article 7 and 8 of the EU CFR respectively provide a right to privacy and data protection as two distinct rights. These rights are given effect by an ePrivacy instrument known as the EU ePrivacy Directive (that applies to things like cookies and other online tracking techniques) and by a data protection instrument, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). EU data protection rules and those of the CoE have been implemented in member state law and have been strengthened to reflect changes in technology and changes in data use. Today, when people use their mobile phones or laptops etc, data can be gathered about people in real-time and shared between hundreds of third-party advertisers for example, often in ways without people being genuinely aware or having any meaningful choices. Data that can reveal aspects of a person’s private life, such as their locations, their shopping habits, the websites they visit, who their contacts are, and their social connections.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): “The 2018 general data protection regulation (GDPR) provides individuals with the right to be informed about the collection and use of their personal data. This is a key transparency requirement” – explained on the ICO’s website here: https://bit.ly/2QxmZH1
Pat Walshe of Privacy Matters states: “A right to privacy and data protection are more important than ever as our digital data reveals deeply personal and intimate aspects of ourselves and those we are connected to.”
Your Rights - recap;
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Article 12: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his [her] privacy … [or] correspondence”.
2000 EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (EHCR): Article 1: “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected”.
2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) “sets a high standard for consent”: This informed consent entails:
• “offering individuals real choice and control”
• “genuine consent should put individuals in charge, build trust and engagement”.
