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21 October 2010
In October, Vodafone hosted a roundtable discussion in Brussels, Building a Culture of Privacy in a Digital World. Speakers included our own Stephen Deadman, Group Privacy Officer, as well as European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx, Nokia Chief Privacy Officer Mikko Niva, BEUC Legal Officer Kostas Rossoglou, and MEP Alexander Alvaro.
The event was planned in the context of the European Commission’s review of the Data Protection Directive. (A revised directive is expected in mid-2011.)
Expanding on the themes introduced in our Future of Privacy white paper of last year, Stephen Deadman explained why the review of the directive is important for the mobile industry. With a short animation, he demonstrated how network operators, handset manufacturers, application stores and independent application developers and other coders are closely interlinked. He concluded that a second-generation framework for data protection should meet the challenges of safeguarding privacy, in a technology-neutral way, across borders, industry participants and activities. Equally important is that the new directive provide incentives for companies to collaborate on standards and technologies that create the right privacy experiences for consumers. We’ve also produced a short brochure that explains these points.
Peter Hustinx gave a brief overview of the key elements that will be necessary in a revised data protection directive. He said it will constitute a comprehensive framework that can apply cross-sectors, with effectiveness and enforcement as important elements of its implementation. Kostas Rossoglou, from the European consumer organisation BEUC, called upon the Commission to introduce a requirement that data subjects give their ‘meaningful’ consent to the processing of their personal data.
Nokia’s Mikko Niva spoke about the challenges companies face, and the innovative ways they can overcome them, in creating a culture of privacy both inside the company and in the community at large. Member of the European Parliament Alexander Alvaro (Germany) said that personal data has become a tradable good. He would not object to that, he added, as long as consumers are meaningfully informed of the consequences of giving their data away online. Unfortunately, he concluded this is not the case today. In his view, proper safeguards should exist, such as the “right to be forgotten”.
In attendance were officers from Parliament, Commission and Council, along with significant representation from Brussels-based and other European stakeholders, making for a lively and informative discussion. What we are hearing from many of the participants, including organisations involved in the directive review, is particularly positive.
