A Project on European Privacy and Human Rights

28/04/2010

Privacy International is pleased to announce commencement of the European Privacy and Human Rights (EPHR) Project in partnership with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Media and Communications Studies at Central European University (CEU) funded by the European Commission under the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme (JLS/2008/FRC-1).

The EPHR project will carry out a comprehensive review of privacy law across all EU Member states which in itself is a substantial task, but further to this, the EPHR project will deliver the results of this study in a number of innovative and interactive ways with the aim of increasing awareness of privacy rights across the European region and helping to empower all citizens to take control of their own privacy in this technologically complex age.

As well as delivering an inclusive survey, ranking privacy across the EU and highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of legislation throughout the European region the EPHR project will disseminate this data in the countries’ language. Further, through a range of technologies and platforms, the EPHR project will allow the citizens of Europe to explore their rights in innovative ways.

In the fast-moving world of mobile computing and the ever growing desire to access more information faster and in a format suitable for a range of environments it is important to make the data as accessible as possible. The EPHR project will meet this challenge through a range of applications (online and offline), privacy focused events, information portals and a privacy gateway.

EPHR consists of three action areas:

1. Map European Privacy laws and recent developments as well as summarise the trends in light of the right to privacy;
2. Disseminate information and publish it on multiple online and offline platforms;
3. Develop innovative awareness-raising campaigns to be launched at the International Data Protection Data on 28th January 2011.

The collaboration between the partners and European countries’ contributors from academia, public authorities and civil society will strengthen European networks of privacy advocates.

Action Area 1: Researching the European Privacy Landscape

Establishing a survey of the European landscape of national privacy laws and providing a digest on policy trends is essential to highlight best practices, but also to shed light on areas that require improvement.

The project will create publicity and awareness as a precondition for civil society participation in privacy policy in the European context and as well at an international level.

Our approach is to disseminate all reports in English and, for each national report, in the language of the country to which it pertains. This will provide comparability on the one hand, and accessibility of the survey for all EU citizens on the other.

The EPHR project builds on the legacy of EPIC' and Privacy International's publication 'Privacy & Human Rights: An International Survey of Privacy Laws and Developments', which is the most authoritative reference among global and comparative surveys on privacy regulations and developments worldwide.

The major outcome of the EPHR project is a European survey of privacy laws and developments that will be accessible as part of the international survey that was established 12 years ago and that is available in English as a printed and online publication (http://www.privacyinternational.org/phr).

The EPHR project contributes to the existing Privacy and Human Rights survey by coordinating and editing input and updates for the EU country reports (all 27 EU Member States) + the ECTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein) and all EU candidate countries (Croatia, Macedonia, and Turkey).

Country reports will all be drafted and updated in English, then translated into the country's official language and accompanied by a summary of pan-European trends and an analysis of policy implications with practical policy recommendations in light of the fundamental right to data protection.

Action Area 2: Dissemination of Research Findings

The EPHR project will disseminate the survey through traditional offline and modern online publishing platforms that will be accessible to multiple devices including mobile devices and handhelds.

Each country will be offered in its national language(s) on an online portal, together with further information relevant in the national context, on institutions and useful links, as well as the opportunity for interaction.

Action Area 3: Raise Awareness of Privacy

This final stage of the project is dedicated to the development of innovative awareness-raising campaigns intended for the European Data Protection Day on 28th January 2011 with the aim to visualize ubiquitous data processing and privacy invasive practices in order to raise awareness offline and online.

The EPHR project shall illustrate concepts related to privacy so as to offer a more concrete experience for European citizens than what currently exists. The idea is to create an experience that would elicit thought and provoke reactions and opinions on privacy by, for example, helping people visualise data processing activities and other similar concepts not otherwise obvious to non-experts.

Goals

As a result of the EPHR project, accurate and high quality information about the state of the European privacy legal framework and recent developments will be at the fingertips of all Europeans in the language of each EU member state for its respective country report.

A summary will wrap up the country reports and present policy analysis and recommendations. It is expected that the dissemination and awareness-raising strategies will significantly enhance access to the survey and thus contribute to the overall aim of reconciling the policy objectives of the free circulation of information and the adequate protection of privacy and personal data.

Furthermore, the EPHR project will bring together advocates, regulators, academics and other stakeholders to strengthen the foundations of a strong European hub of privacy professionals.

Privacy International would like to thanks EPIC, CEU and the European Commission for investing their time and resources into such an essential tool set for the citizens of Europe.

Related:
Request for Proposals for Visualising Privacy