How practicable is it to apply Data Protection to activities involving Freedom of Expression? 3 Centre for Socio-Legal Studies

This contribution by Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor and formerly President of the Dutch Data Protection Authority, presents an international perspective on the interface between Data Protection and freedom of expression. Peter Hustinx argues the proposed European Data Protection Regulation should avoid specific reference to journalism literature and art but should very clearly require Member States only provide freedom of expression exemptions from Data Protection to the extent necessary to strike a proper balance between fundamental rights. He also argues that it might be helpful to state that the exemptions should not affect the essential elements of either the right to freedom of expression or the right to data protection. The talk was the keynote address of the OxPILS Conference 'The 'Right to be Forgotten' and Beyond' held on 12 June 2012. This Conference was the culmination of 'Mending the Tangled Web? Information Privacy 3.0', a series which was generously made possible with funding from a Joint Programme between the European Union and the Council of Europe. (The views expressed are those of the individual speakers only). For full details please see http://www.csls.ox.ac.uk/conferences/oxpilsconference2012/.