Technological progress in the last few decades have made monitoring, tracking and profiling techniques easier, cheaper and more accurate. As a result, surveillance has increased in both the public sector (for law enforcement purposes and public security for example) and in the private sector (for targeted advertising for example). These practices can profoundly affect how individuals think and act, as well as other personal rights (such as freedom of expression or association). Any form of surveillance is an intrusion on the fundamental rights to the protection of personal data and to the right to privacy. It must be provided for by law and be necessary and proportionate.
Prior-checking Opinion regarding the video-surveillance system of the European Economic Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (Case 2017-0662)
EDPS Opinion on coherent enforcement of fundamental rights in the age of Big Data
The EDPS focused considerable efforts in 2015 on ensuring the successful adoption of new and effective data protection rules, providing legislators with detailed recommendations in the form of an app. He now turns his attention to the successful implementation of these rules and the reform of the current Regulation, which will apply to the work of the EDPS and the other EU institutions and bodies.
The EDPS launched several new initiatives in 2015, such as those on data ethics and big data. He also worked closely with the Article 29 Working Party to analyse the consequences of the Court of Justice of the European Union's ruling on Safe Harbour and advise the Commission on alternative solutions. These and other initiatives will continue into 2016 and beyond to ensure that the EU remains at the forefront of data protection and privacy policy in the years to come.
The April 2016 edition of the EDPS Newsletter covers the EDPS Opinion on the EU-US "Umbrella Agreement", the launch of the EDPS Reference Library and the EDPS initiative on digital ethics and many other EDPS activities.
Guidelines on personal data and electronic communications in the EU institutions (eCommunications guidelines)