Qu’est-ce que le RGPD ? Le règlement général sur la protection des données (RGPD) (Règlement (UE) 2016/679 du Parlement européen et du Conseil, Journal officiel UE, L119 du 4 mai…
Le Jeudi 24 Mai s’est déroulé au Halles SuperPublic à Paris les 3èmes conversations européennes organisées par EuropaNova. L’objectif de ces conversations européennes de porter, au plus près des citoyens, les sujets européens très souvent perçus comme lointain, inatteignable et, a fortiori, impossible à débattre. Par ces échanges, les politiques européennes deviennent plus accessibles et sont discutées au même titre que les sujets de politique nationale.
La réglementation européenne globale concernant la gestion de l’Internet et des réseaux ayant été édictée en 1995, aux balbutiements du Net, la rénovation débutée en janvier 2012 était donc plus…
Le 29 Octobre dernier le Parlement européen a adopté une résolution sur le suivi de la résolution du 12 mars 2014 concernant la surveillance électronique de masse des citoyens de l’Union Européenne, approuvée suite aux révélations faites par Edward Snowden en 2013. Le Parlement européen, à travers un vote qui n’a pas été facile, a invité les États Membres à protéger le lanceur d’alerte américain en tant que “défenseur international des droits de l’homme”. En 2013, seulement la Russie lui avait accordé un asile temporaire d’un an, renouvelé en aout 2014 avec un permis de séjour de trois ans. Suite à ce vote, Edward Snowden a parlé d’une “chance pour aller de l’avant”. Est-ce qu’on peut réellement confirmer son espoir ? (suite…)
Le débat au sein de la commission LIBE du Parlement européen après l’arrêt de la Cour, deux thèmes dominent : nécessité d’une véritable révolution et critiques sévères à l’égard de la Commission Européenne.
Lundi 12 octobre 2015, les députés de la commission LIBE du Parlement européen ont animé un débat très vivant sur l’arrêt de la Cour de Justice du 6 octobre dernier, relatif à l’affaire Schrems. En lien avec les déclarations faites pendant ces derniers jours, ils ont exprimé des avis tout à fait positifs sur la sentence et ont rappelé à la Commission qu’il faut agir. Il faut agir très vite!
Tous les députés qui ont participé au débat ont souligné l’importance de l’action entreprise par Max Schrems, “citoyen courageux qui a commencé une véritable révolution”. Les députés lui ont exprimé leur gratitude pour avoir permis aux citoyens européens d’être redevenus des individus conscients de leurs droits fondamentaux.
En tant que citoyenne européenne, merci beaucoup Max Schrems! (suite…)
Last October 6th, the ECJ finally came to a decisive episode of the Safe Harbor saga, by ruling the invalidity of a system that provides a totally inadequate level of protection of european citizens’ data. Max Schrems warmly welcomed the ECJ ruling and, in his first official response to the judgement, called in to question the precious key role played by Edward Snowden. The latter, American whistleblower currently living in Russia, let the entire world know about the mass surveillance programs set up by the American NSA, targeting also EU citizens. The other, Austrian citizen, gave to all the European citizens the concrete possibility to have their fundamental rights of privacy and data protection defended, by filing a complaint before the Irish Data Protection Commissioner two years ago. “Congratulations Max Schrems. You’ve changed the world for the better” Edward Snowden wrote in a tweet.
The ECJ ruling of this week, does not conclude the whole judicial procedure, that will pass again before the Irish High Court, but constitues a huge step towards the realization of a really safe harbor for the transatlantic exchange of personal data. “The judgement draws a clear line. It clarifies that mass surveillance violates our fundamental rights”, Schrems affirmed.
On 24 September 2015 the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli, delivered his second opinion on the proposal of a Directive on the use of PNR data of airline passengers, flying to Europe and from Europe, as an instrument of law enforcement for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorism and serious crime. The analysis of the EDPS, whose mission is to advise the institutions on data protection implications of their policies, aims at evaluating the impact of the system on individuals’ right to privacy and data protection. The EU PNR system was approved by the LIBE committee of the European Parliament in July 2015. (suite…)
On September 23th, one of the most eagerly awaited ECJ Advocate General’s legal opinion, has finally been pronounced and it has been warmly welcomed by the whole community of data protection and privacy supporters and activists. “After fifteen years of criticism from academics, from privacy advocates and from independent studies, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has confirmed what we already knew”, Heini Järvinen stated on European Digital Rights.
The opinion concerns the controversy among Europe and Facebook, embodied in Max Schrems’ case. Not an ordinary court case, but to a great extent a political one, definitely triggering reactions not only by the parties directly involved, but also by the digital community and the European institutions. A case that will certainly have an impact on the trialogue phase of the Data Protection Reform that is currently going on in the EU and that will have far reaching consequences on EU-US relations. The two partners already undertook negotiations in order to review and and update the “invalid” system. A system that was already claimed by the Parliament to be suspended one year and a half ago. (suite…)
“For the first time ever, the EU citizens will be able to know, by looking at one single set of rules, which minimum rights and protection they are entitled to, with regards to data share with the US in the law enforcement sector”. These are the words of P. Michou, chief negotiator in charge of the negotiation process of the so called EU-US “Umbrella Agreement”, who gave a public overview on the lately finalized transatlantic data protection framework in the field of law enforcement cooperation. The speech, delivered during the last meeting of the LIBE committee of the European Parliament, has met a warm welcome by the MEPs. Great congratulations have been expressed by all the political groups, for the work done by the negotiating team of the Commission that, from its side, has thanked the LIBE committee for its strong support and pressures. As Mrs. Michou said, they “helped us to be stronger in our negotiations”. Negotiations that were dealt with a partner that is far from being an easy one. The words of Michou, however, have not completely reassured all the MEPs, who have called for a legal opinion on the text of the agreement to be delivered by the legal department of the European Parliament. Legal certainties about the potential benefits or detrimental effects that this agreement could have on the existing EU data protection rules, as well as on past and future agreements, have been asked by the majority of the deputies, as a necessary precondition for the vote. (suite…)