Brève analyse du règlement général relatif à la protection des données personnelles

Regulation 2016/679/UE of the European Parliament and of the Council relative to the protection of physical people towards the treatment of data as personal character and towards the free circulation of data was at last adopted on April 27, 2016 after four years of negotiation. Thanks to these 99 articles, Directive 95/46/CE will be repealed upon its application on May 25, 2018. If Directive 95/46 is concerned with the protection of freedoms and fundamental rights of people, in particular private life (first article), the new regulation will go further and will be based on the protection of personal data, found in article 8§1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in article 16§1 of TFUE (recital 1). But in the new text, similar to the old text, it still guarantees the proper functioning of the internal market, as well as facilitating the free flux of data (recitals 13 and 123). This double foundation allows for the following objectives, which are sometimes juxtaposed, that make it very complex, as well as involving the entanglement of standards and stakeholders.

One can ask if the complexity and the cost of the reform will be compensated by a sufficient improvement to the protection it awards to individuals. The progress is undeniable, but one must wait to see the concrete effects it has. Further, it should equally be concerned with algorithmic processing of big data, following the example of the American President and of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The European Union should act quickly if it does not want to fall behind economically and socially.

This content has been updated on 24 August 2016 at 21 h 34 min.