Data Protection: an essential issue for our I.S and our democracy.

1. Data Protection: an essential issue for our I.S and our democracy. By Yves Poullet Prof. Faculties of Law Namur and Liège Director of the CRID (University of Namur) http://www.crid.be yves.poullet@fundp.ac.be ERC, Lisboa, October 16, 2008

2. Introduction • Preliminary questions • Which Data? Increasing number of data collected- New methods of collection - New types of data (trafic data, biometric data, etc) • Who is processing? New actors (intermediairies) – Visible and invisible actors – New methods of processing (profiling) • For which purposes ? • From Paranoia to the « Global village » Myth Facebook … as a way to realise the Myth.

3. Introduction (2) • Table of Content • Part 1: From a false comparison to the two facets of the Privacy • Part 2: The new dimensions of the ICT applications and their consequences • Part 3: Reinventing Data Protection?

4. What is Privacy? • A False comparison : global village and traditional village • The individual’s non transparency as a virtue • Apart from the vital need of opacity to the right to seclusion (article 8 of the C. of Europe Convention) • Concerns about the survival of this right in our Society • The mastership on our informational environment • The informational selfdetermination from art. 8 of the C.O.E to Data Protection legislations • Concerns • Mastership and profiling : the statistical truth • Mastership and functioning of our terminal equipment

5. What is Privacy? (2) 2. Relationships between citizens and Data controllers in our I.S. : betwwen KAFKA and ORWELL • « Big Brother » : the increasing asymmetry between DC and DS (the Google example) and its consequence : the reductionism • « The Trial »: the radical opacity of our IS and its consequence: the anticipatory conformism. 3. Two facets of the privacy beyond Data Protection • Right to intimacy (passive) and right to self determination (active) are both conditions of the building up of our autonomous development which are essential for our democracy (full participation to the Society). • Privacy is the « fundamental fundamental » Human Right

6. About new characteristics of the new ICT applications and their consequences • Characteristics of the new technologies • Preliminary remark: Technology operates jointly with economic and social factors we have to take into account • 5 major evolutions • The increasing capacity of storing, processing and transmitting data : the Moore Law • The multifunctionality and miniaturisation of the terminal equipment • New Internet applications • Convergent networks • Semantic Web • Web 2.0

7. I. Technological Landscape • Characteristics of the « new » Information systems : between Tera and Nano • Ability to store speech, data, images or any combination • Increasing capacity as regards the transmission ( 10Kb/sec.) • Increasing capacity as regards the processing ( Moore’s Law ) • Increasing capacity as regards the storage capacity • Multiplication of terminal devices ( as regards their mobility and their size) -> E.g. the desktop computer bought at the supermarket Year 1987 2007 2020 (x1000) Processor 8 Mhertz 3 Ghertz (x 375) 3 TeraHz Memory 640KB 512 MB(x 800) 512 Gbytes Hard Disk 20 Mbytes 120 Gbytes (x 6000) 120 Terabytes Phone conn. 10Kb/sec 3 Mb /sec 10 Gb/sec 7

8. About new characteristics of the new ICT applications and their consequences (2) 4. New methods of identification and authentication : the digital identifiers Why ? How ? From traditional identifiers to automatically generated identifiers and to biometric data. 5. Ambient intelligence Ubiquitous computing – opacity – Human being as an object amongst others one. 2. Trends and Consequences • Privatisation of the cyberspace : from private Internet governance to privatisation of the public discussion space and the blurring frontier between public and private space. • A suggesting comparison between DP Laws and environmental law : the global dimension of our private actions.

9. Reinventing Data Protection? • Law has its own limits • Take into account the societal and economical aspects of the innovation and of their applications: the need for political choice. • Illustration by certain present debates 2. Technology is the Risk but perhaps also the solution • The RFID discussion • From PETS to the absolute need for a transparent and mastered technology • « Privacy by design » and the liability of the producers even designers.

10. Reinventing Data Protection? • Two key words: Proportionality and Transparency • Proportionality • Proportionality of the processing : Choice of the less intrusive data processing and lawfulness of the processing • Proportionality of the content • Against the public security and economic logics… • Certain consequences: about consent and other questions?

11. The background of the Convention 108 Fundamental rights and freedom

12. Reinventing Data Protection (2) 2. Transparency • Enlargment of the obligation of transparency as regards the characteristics of the processing : examples drawn down from the profiling • New methods of access: technology as support to the access. • Transparency of the terminals.

13. CONCLUSIONS • The undisputable benefits of the technology… • But … • Against the « so-called absolute logics » (security and economical) • Beyond Data Protection Authorities’ control, a citizen’s concern • Call for education including ethical education.